GOG Connect lets you add Steam games to your GOG library for free

Steam versions of The Witness, FTL, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and more can be tethered to your GOG account immediately.

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Competition is a good thing. The advent of digital gaming platforms like Steam, Origin, and GOG (formerly Good Old Games) gives consumers more choice, and forces platform holders to stay competitive by running special promotions such as sales and free weekends. Trouble is, Steam was one of the first on the scene, and is so engrained in PC gaming that many consumers are reticent to buy games anywhere but Steam, preferring to keep their library in one place.

Enter GOG Connect, a way to consolidate your collection by linking DRM-free versions of previously purchased Steam games to your GOG account at no additional cost.

"Whether you're checking us out for the first time or looking to copy over your previous purchases, GOG Connect gives you DRM-free versions of your games, along with digital extras and the freedom to choose between standalone installers or the optional GOG Galaxy Client," representatives from GOG platform holder CD Projekt explained in a press release.

"It's our take on game ownership and we say: why buy the games more than once?"

As of right now, not all games available on Steam and GOG are eligible. GOG is working on establishing partnerships with publishers include Deep Silver, Jonathan Blow's Number None, and more so players can begin linking games. GOG Connect maintains an ongoing list of eligible titles, including FTL, Trine Enchanted Edition, Saints Row 2, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and Shadowrun Returns, among others.

Take note, however, that games able to be linked through GOG Connect have an expiration date. "While GOG Connect will stick around, the games available will come and go. These are limited-time offers made possible by participating developers and publishers, so stay tuned for more games to come."

Meaning, any games you link up will remain connected, but the opportunity to link them will expire—much like how Origin's On the House games are only free for a short time.

Head to GOG.com/connect to check out eligible games and get started.

Useful Links
* GOG.com/connect – GOG's hub that lists games eligible for Steam/GOG linking

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 1, 2016 6:45 AM

    David Craddock posted a new article, GOG Connect lets you add Steam games to your GOG library for free

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 7:01 AM

      Sweet!

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 7:16 AM

      link to connect.gog.com at the end of the article is broken

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 7:27 AM

      Attn: The link given to us in the press release doesn't work, and I'm not home to fix the links in the story. Until I can, here's the correct link: https://www.gog.com/connect

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 7:29 AM

      interesting. I prefer steam for the cloud save and auto updating but I don't see a downside of getting these games on GOG. At least it'll help ensure I don't buy the same game twice.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 3:16 PM

        Yeah, well gog is still working on features for their Galaxy client, and they have auto-updating now too. Eventually it'll be just as polished as Steam. But I agree, its still more convenient to use steam, but this is a big step for gog.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 8:04 AM

      Oh wow, that's great. I love these guys, they keep doing it right.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 8:05 AM

      not picking up any games for me, service is probably getting hugged to death right now

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 8:09 AM

      [deleted]

    • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
      reply
      June 1, 2016 8:09 AM

      The in-article link to gog connect is bad, btw

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 8:12 AM

      You can connect only one Steam account with your GOG.com library. This process is permanent – choose wisely!

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 8:13 AM

        I read 'account' as 'game' - I need more coffee.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 8:17 AM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 8:23 AM

        the most frustrating error message used by everyone

        • reply
          June 1, 2016 9:45 AM

          I blame Microsoft for starting that stupid "friendly face" shit. I preferred old fashioned error codes you could Google search. To be fair however, some of Microsoft's "oops!" messages at least contain a 0x00000000 code now.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 9:11 AM

        Same. :(

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 9:13 AM

      For the life of me, outside of getting Steam users into the GOG ecosystem, I don't see the appeal here. For any grief I've heard associated with Steam, the DRM's usually at the bottom of the list.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 9:42 AM

        I'd use it to get a downloadable installer from GOG of games I own on Steam. When I visit family over the holidays, I like to take a portable hard drive full of games I can install the old-fashioned way so I don't have to bother with fussy Internet connections.

        • reply
          June 1, 2016 10:44 AM

          Yeah, it's nice to just not worry at all when you're traveling and are unsure of how connected your connection will be. I've been lucky with Steam while out and about, but I know my experience is not universal.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 6:26 PM

        Steam offline mode burned me bad before and the GOG option will always be a step up.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 9:39 AM

      Oh shit, nice!!

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 9:43 AM

      Links fixed! If the changes aren't reflected now, they should be shortly.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 10:08 AM

      Has anyone actually gotten all the way through?

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 10:45 AM

      nice!

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 10:50 AM

      Interesting... GOG is mostly DRM free, right? So could this be a way to buy something on Steam and then get a DRM-free version? Could be nice for simpler offline play. I can't help feeling like there will be some weird interactions on some games though, esp. games people think of as SP but there are slight network interactions.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 10:51 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          June 1, 2016 10:53 AM

          I also just read the bit at the bottom about time-limited offers. It's kind of starting to sound messy, I probably won't bother with it. I like GOG conceptually but they are really weird sometimes.

          • reply
            June 1, 2016 10:54 AM

            [deleted]

            • reply
              June 1, 2016 11:02 AM

              W3 and a few older titles are all that I have through them too. I'm not the type to act like Steam is perfect, but I treat most of the competing services (Origin, U-Play, etc.) this way. I find that they rarely have anything valuable to offer and are just me-too products with questionable long-term reliability.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 11:02 AM

      Due to exceedingly high demand this may take up to several days, please check back later. Thank you for your patience.

      Oh well.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 11:23 AM

      I had 266 games in my GOG library before connecting. I wonder how many I'll have after...

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 2:46 PM

        I love GoG so much, haven't paid a dime to Steam in almost a year since I moved, had no internet for a couple weeks and offline mode didn't work after the first couple days because I guess it needed me to check in like a good boy, locking me out of my entire library. It was a pretty brutal wake-up call.

        Everything I buy on the PC now is going to come standalone or from GoG, I realize this is going to hurt and I may have to make an exception for nuDoom but I'd love to move as much of my Steam library as I can to GoG.

        • reply
          June 1, 2016 6:28 PM

          Same here. Though there are some games that don't have the DRM free option. Surprisingly though UPlay and Origin both had offline modes that worked better than Steam when I was in Afghanistan.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 11:29 AM

      Working now, added 8 games. I had forgotten that I own Saints Row 2 and that Project Zomboid was a thing.

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 11:39 AM

      I also got mine. It's weird though, you think Witcher 3 would be part of this.

      • reply
        June 1, 2016 12:33 PM

        I assume that it eventually will be. They allowed you to import your steam and retail version of witcher1+2 to gog.

        Before that, Witcher 1 in retail dropped the drm/cd check after a few months in a patch anyway and so did witcher2 a few weeks after release (especially since the gog exe was apparently slightly faster than the retail exe file).

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 3:30 PM

      nice

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 3:47 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      June 1, 2016 3:47 PM

      There are few games I rebought on GOG, this would have saved a few bucks

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