No, GOG is not popular like Steam at all. Steam has probably 70 - 75% of the PC games market share, and GOG has probably 0.5 - 3% at the very most.

The user's question has already been answered, I'd just like to make a minimal correction to this comment - the original Baldur's Gate games (and Icewind Dale and Torment) can still be redeemed by buying the Enhanced editions, then going into your game libraries, clicking on the Enhanced Edition of the game and then "View downloads" -> "More" -> "Serial Keys". Copy-pasting that link on your browser allows you to redeem the old version of the game (God knows why they made it so hard to find it).

If you get the game you want, why would it matter if it's popular with others?

It matters for games that are multiplayer-based, like Monster Hunter World.

But that's kind of a moot point in this context, since GOG doesn't have a viable multiplayer community, nor does it have games like Monster Hunter World in its catalog.

Maybe the OP doesn't know those things, though.

And in-dev or brand new games that are still updated often. Kinda nicer to update them with a client than at worst having to reinstall the whole game every time an important update emerges.

You mean like how I've been getting Baldur's Gate's 3 updates via Galaxy?

GOG is one of the more popular Steam's competitors. But Steam's popularity is probably at least a couple of orders of magnitude bigger than GOG's. In that context, Steam isn't merely more popular, it's the default. GOG is mostly for us out-of-touch weirdos who subscribe to the laughably archaic notion that non-online-multiplayer-focused video games should require neither an internet connection to install and/or play, nor a mandatory piece of publisher/developer/store software to "manage" our games.

thanks for your reply ill defo start using this launcher as well soon...

I recall the same (occasionally having to redownload the whole game) happening also on Steam... Have you really had to reinstall BG3 again in Galaxy whenever a new update comes, or are you talking about a single incident?

Either way, it is still easier and more automated that way, than having to reinstall the game manually.

i like buying games from different places and i been hearing about how good gog is for a while now so i was just trying to figure out how yall think of this launcher as well thats all ill defo buy from here now though

Most respondents will urge not to use Galaxy, especially not 2.0 Beta.

It auto-updates, enables achievements, cloud saves, has a lot of aesthetic customization features, a unique tagging and filtering system, a client chat UI, and it has official integrations for Epic and Xbox. It also has community integrations for Steam, EA Origin, PSN, Ubisoft, etc. so you can unify your library from one interface. It's also easy to add custom tags, filtering, upload your own game backgrounds/covers, and manage your games.

However, the community integrations break on some occasions, so games from other stores won't show up in your unified Galaxy library. It lacks many features that Steam has like big picture mode, controller support, video streaming, remote play/downloads, Steam Workshop, etc. due to GOG being a smaller store. People have mentioned before how CPU and RAM usage spikes on occasion while Galaxy runs. Not all games have achievements if you care about that. And sometimes cloud saves becomes odd and asks you which game saves to use from 1969 that you just ignore until GOG servers resync and are overwrited by your local save. I think there are other oddities, but those are the major ones. Overall, it feels quite bloated for the features it provides.

Offline installers avoids all of that and is the old school way to do things since they work well. Bypass all those features and the headaches it comes with by downloading from your web library, installing from an EXE, and manually managing your desktop/start menu shortcuts however you like.

There is a small in-between option that is Galaxy 1.2. It has most of the major features of 2.0 like auto-updates, built-in downloader, achievements, cloud saves, etc., but there's no unified library functionality, no client chat UI, and it lacks aesthetic customization and game management features like those custom tags. Most of its functionality is relegated to the web version of the store. But it feels very lightweight and responsive. You have to follow some special instructions to get it working, but I think it's pretty good for most people's needs.

https://www.gog.com/forum/general_beta_gog_galaxy_2.0/how_to_keep_galaxy_v12_client_and_avoid_the_forced_v20_beta_update/post1

I agree. No I've not had to redownload the full game. Galaxy applies the incremental changes.

It was probably made that clunky to avoid any ambiguity for new users searching up the original Baldur's Gate and buying a few decades old game and being turned off to the whole franchise. Night and day difference between the two after all. At least I'm guessing it was done for that reason...

I was actually aware of that method and had it long before the Enhanced Edition came out. It wasn't removed from anyone's library and still works like a charm. It being not available for direct purchase anymore (and not even visible), was the reason I called it delisted in this context. As far as completely new or younger players go, it pretty much is.
Well, at least they used to stand for that. Kinda like MTV was music television. Guess both monikers were dropped at some point.

In this case, I think the full is better than the acronym. Saying good old games is much better than saying GOG to someone. Primarily because GOG rolls off the tongue like you're trying to throw up.

GOG ≠ George? :confused: