The GOG.com logo photographed at an angle on a computer monitor. (Image credit: Future)

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GOG Galaxy—the DRM-free storefront's go at a desktop client and launcher—was always a nice dream that didn't measure up in reality. The pitch was: all your games, from all your PC game storefronts, in one centralised hub, but it never left beta in its 2.0 form and, in general, ran pretty poorly compared to its most obvious competition (Steam).

But that was old GOG. New, independent GOG has big plans for Galaxy. In the storefront's first "GOG Showcase", released Thursday, it announced the launcher would be getting a revamp in 2027, and it's coming to Linux too. "We know this has been a long time coming, but we wanted to do it properly: GOG Galaxy is officially heading to Linux", says the studio.

"At the same time, we’ve reworked the client on Windows and Mac to be simpler, run faster, and give you cleaner ways to view your library. Most importantly, our core promise stays untouched: GOG Galaxy is entirely optional. Your games are yours to download and keep through offline installers, exactly as they’ve always been".

That is to say, you'll still be able to find offline game installers in your GOG library if you want to prep for the digital ownership apocalypse (which, let me be clear, is probably a wise move).

Of course, if you're someone who plays games on Linux (cool people, I believe is the technical term), then you likely already have perhaps several tools which do the GOG Galaxy thing of letting you configure and install games from multiple storefronts: programs like Heroic, Faugus, or Lutris. Still, it'd be good to have a ship-shape Galaxy on multiple platforms, and a store with GOG's stature getting in on Linux is good news for PC gaming in general.

The Linuxification of everything isn't the only bit of news GOG released at its showcase. It also announced GOG Social: "a quiet, tidy hangout for actual game talk", meant to centralise discussion and socialising around "screenshot galleries, videos, and community polls with threaded replies and zero algorithmic noise".

If either of those things sounds cool to you, you can sign up for their respective betas over at GOG.

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.