GOG Galaxy
Ranked 3 of 8 game launchers by recommenders
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.
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.
42 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 24
- approval share
- 43%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Welcome first-party option worth supporting
“GOG creating a Linux launcher and Steam Box with SteamOS coming out soon should benefit PC users in general”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “I'm for a first party solution. I support their efforts as much as I can.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” Convenience app, pretty nice
“It's just a convenience app, but it's a pretty nice one.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “That's also one thing Galaxy gets right.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Offline games need Galaxy running
“Yet the standalone offline installed games won't run without libgalaxy.dylib (Mac) or Galaxy64.dll (Windows)”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “I’ve run into several games that will not launch at all of you don’t have galaxy or galaxy has no internet.”
Comment from 1 Aug 2026 in “Just because a game is on disc doesn't mean it will work in the future” Laggy, web-based, not native
“Galaxy works no better than a web app, unfortunately. Similarly laggy and lacks the snappiness you'd normally associate with a native app.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “I also refuse to install their shop, Web powered "native" apps only the unavoidable ones.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder: What it means for you” Unmaintained with unfixed security issues
“Their non-serious stance towards security means Galaxy isn't really software I want running on my system anymore.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “Galaxy is a woefully unmaintained product. It's had known and unfixed CVEs for years now.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder: What it means for you” Shortcut and playtime bugs
“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”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client” “real coding bugs like the one in GOG Galaxy, where play time =time_process_end - time_process_start”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder: What it means for you”
Other game launchers people recommend
The four most recommended other game launchers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heroic Games Launcher | 50 | 9 | 85% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Lutris | 33 | 12 | 73% | 8 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| GOG GalaxyThis page | 18 | 24 | 43% | 5 | — | — |
| Battle.net | 12 | 8 | 60% | 7 | — | — |
| Steam Big Picture | 8 | 5 | 62% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 45 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“GoG is kept alive by its one single USP, and its launcher isn't even relevant to that”
“Every alternative launcher, uplay/ubisoft connect, origin/ea app, epic games, gog started with a store platform and stopped.”
“I’ve run into several games that will not launch at all of you don’t have galaxy or galaxy has no internet.”
“GOG Galaxy for Windows released approximately 10 years ago and it didn't introduce any DRM.”
“I have mixed opinions on this. On one hand - "it's about time".”
“last time I tried it it was pretty buggy”
“GoG is the closest thing to a steam competitor right now and even in that case I have zero incentive to install their client.”
“then (with a huge enormous gap) comes Gog, Amazon, Xbox, EA, Ubisoft”
“impressively well considering, but still not all too great”
“still managed to get itself stuck in a place where it ships an x86 only binary on macOS anyways”
“Galaxy is the slowest piece of software I have”
“Their non-serious stance towards security means Galaxy isn't really software I want running on my system anymore.”
“I like seeing my achievements and playtime”
“It's just a convenience app, but it's a pretty nice one.”
“I don't find any advantages of having client of GoG games to be honest”
“one of the more interesting attempts in the wild of a launcher trying to be a little bit more than just a walled garden”
“That's also one thing Galaxy gets right.”
“I'm for a first party solution. I support their efforts as much as I can.”
“I think Galaxy trying to strive to be as "seamless" will break the very philosophy of GOG to begin with”
“it's open source and 2) it can show other gamijg libraries thanks to fan maintained plugins”
“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”
“I don't need a client with your branding all over it, that has socials and my library and all engagement bait like that.”
“It's pretty difficult to imagine a definition of "digital rights management" that doesn't include this.”
“Galaxy works no better than a web app, unfortunately. Similarly laggy and lacks the snappiness you'd normally associate with a native app.”
“their existing tool (which - for all its flaws - is still far ahead of Heroic in many ways)”
“GOG creating a Linux launcher and Steam Box with SteamOS coming out soon should benefit PC users in general”
“most of the games that have it, force you to use Galaxy”
“Yet the standalone offline installed games won't run without libgalaxy.dylib (Mac) or Galaxy64.dll (Windows)”
“not yet another Electron crap shell”
“GOG can remove them if they revoke a license for any reason”
“Galaxy not being available is a bit meh”
“real coding bugs like the one in GOG Galaxy, where play time =time_process_end - time_process_start”
“Galaxy is a woefully unmaintained product. It's had known and unfixed CVEs for years now.”
“I haven't looked much at GOG Galaxy, but AFAIK it's not a Steam-like app”
“if GOG Galaxy supported Linux, it would support Linux games and cloud saves for those games”
“Their Galaxy backend only handles Windows and macOS builds of games.”
“The UI is otherwise the worst way to explore your library or the store”
“I also refuse to install their shop, Web powered "native" apps only the unavoidable ones.”
“Galaxy protocol support for their Linux builds”
“rather than now expanding the support for their already mediocre launcher”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.