# GOG Galaxy Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/gog-galaxy/ 7 people recommended GOG Galaxy in Hacker News comments, 9 had mixed feelings and 22 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 3 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. 5 of the 7 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client”. **Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. Free GOG launcher that tracks achievements and playtime and is a convenient first-party option. Critics say it is laggy, web-based and poorly maintained, with offline games needing it running. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Offline games need Galaxy running (2 comments in the sample): "Yet the standalone offline installed games won't run without libgalaxy.dylib (Mac) or Galaxy64.dll (Windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822237)) "I’ve run into several games that will not launch at all of you don’t have galaxy or galaxy has no internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49139166)) - Laggy, web-based, not native (2 comments in the sample): "Galaxy works no better than a web app, unfortunately. Similarly laggy and lacks the snappiness you'd normally associate with a native app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822337)) "I also refuse to install their shop, Web powered "native" apps only the unavoidable ones." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46423335)) - Unmaintained with unfixed security issues (2 comments in the sample): "Their non-serious stance towards security means Galaxy isn't really software I want running on my system anymore." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827757)) "Galaxy is a woefully unmaintained product. It's had known and unfixed CVEs for years now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46430217)) - Shortcut and playtime bugs (2 comments in the sample): "the default LNK shortcut that is created after the game installation launches Galaxy with arguments instead of being a path to the direct game EXE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822559)) "real coding bugs like the one in GOG Galaxy, where play time =time_process_end - time_process_start" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466478)) ## Why people recommend it - Welcome first-party option worth supporting (2 comments in the sample): "GOG creating a Linux launcher and Steam Box with SteamOS coming out soon should benefit PC users in general" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822309)) "I'm for a first party solution. I support their efforts as much as I can." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823458)) - Convenience app, pretty nice (2 comments in the sample): "It's just a convenience app, but it's a pretty nice one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46826483)) "That's also one thing Galaxy gets right." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823997)) ## Other game launchers people recommend - [Heroic Games Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/heroic-games-launcher/): 40 recommend, 8 mixed, 8 criticize - [Lutris](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lutris/): 28 recommend, 5 mixed, 10 criticize - [Battle.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/battle-net/): 9 recommend, 3 mixed, 8 criticize - [GameNative](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gamenative/): 5 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "GOG Galaxy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gog-galaxy/ (7 recommend, 9 mixed, 22 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.