A Solution to the Single Games Launcher Conundrum
Back in April I wrote about the proliferation of video game launchers and how more and more companies are offering their own. The dream of Steam being a one stop platform for gaming has long gone and gamers now have to install multiple clients to access their various game libraries. As I indicated in that post, I’m personally not that outraged or inconvenienced by having to use different game launchers. There are far bigger problems facing the video games industry at present, such as aggressive monetisation, the decline of game ownership in the traditional sense and growth of “live services” and the associated bullshit that goes with such business models. Having to use separate launchers (I have 10 installed at the last count) is therefore lower on the list of transgressions and sins. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m averse to a solution if one presents itself and it looks like one may have just done so.
Back in April I wrote about the proliferation of video game launchers and how more and more companies are offering their own. The dream of Steam being a one stop platform for gaming has long gone and gamers now have to install multiple clients to access their various game libraries. As I indicated in that post, I’m personally not that outraged or inconvenienced by having to use different game launchers. There are far bigger problems facing the video games industry at present, such as aggressive monetisation, the decline of game ownership in the traditional sense and growth of “live services” and the associated bullshit that goes with such business models. Having to use separate launchers (I have 10 installed at the last count) is therefore lower on the list of transgressions and sins. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m averse to a solution if one presents itself and it looks like one may have just done so.
One of the game launchers and online stores I already have installed is GOG Galaxy. Good Old Games is part of CD Projekt and as this Polish developer has produced some good titles (the Witcher franchise) and broadly acts in an ethical fashion, I am reasonably well disposed towards them as a consumer. They are currently developing GOG Galaxy 2.0 which is being beta tested at present. I was recently invited to try this product and was impressed to see that it has a facility to link accounts from other game launchers. Alternatively you can manually add a game to your library that is installed outside of GOG Galaxy 2.0. Now I’m sure some of you will be thinking “doesn’t Steam do that already?” and the answer is indeed “yes”. However, the Epic Store blocks Steam from doing this with any of its titles, so you cannot use Steam as a “one stop solution”. GOG Galaxy 2.0 effectively allows you to access all your games from a single platform, be they installed via Origins, UPlay, Steam or even the Epic Store. Furthermore, there is ongoing support for 3rd party addons that can facilitate linking to smaller and more bespoke platforms.
Now the solution that GOG Galaxy 2.0 is seeking to offer does not eliminate all the inconveniences that stem from having to install and run multiple game launchers. For example it cannot unify friends lists and custom social groups. And often all GOG Galaxy 2.0 can do is start another launcher that allows you to access the game you wish to play. But it is at least it is a start and offers the most functionality compared to its rivals. If you wish to try and manage as much as you can from a single app, then GOG Galaxy 2.0 seems to be the best option around at present. It should also be noted that at present, the beta test is by invite only. But if you have version 1.0 of GOG Galaxy installed and have expressed an interest in the next version, an email should be forthcoming with download instructions. It will be interesting to see how well GOG Galaxy 2.0 fares in an increasingly protectionist video games market. Will the current functionality of the beta build make it into the final release or will market forces end up blocking cross platform access? Time will tell.
Taking What You Don’t Need
Every couple of weeks, I log into the Epic Store to see what free games they are giving away. As they’re really trying to secure their share of the market and establish themselves as a clear alternative to Steam, there are plenty of exclusives games and freebies to be found. The ethics of this business approach is a separate issue and not one that I shall address in this post. Let it suffice to say that the concept of the “Loss Leader” is a long standing business tactic. When I logged in today, I saw that both Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and Observer were available for free. The latter interested me because it features voice acting by the late Rutger Hauer. So I duly added them to my game library. The same game library that currently consists of 30 games but only one of which I have paid for. A library that despite its size and wide variety of genres, I’ve only played two of the titles therein. Furthermore, there’s a similar story to tell with regard to Twitch Prime. I log in and check to see what freebies are of on offer, so I can also add them to another redundant library.
Another free game courtesy of the Epic Store
Every couple of weeks, I log into the Epic Store to see what free games they are giving away. As they’re really trying to secure their share of the market and establish themselves as a clear alternative to Steam, there are plenty of exclusives games and freebies to be found. The ethics of this business approach is a separate issue and not one that I shall address in this post. Let it suffice to say that the concept of the “Loss Leader” is a long standing business tactic. When I logged in today, I saw that both Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and Observer were available for free. The latter interested me because it features voice acting by the late Rutger Hauer. So I duly added them to my game library. The same game library that currently consists of 30 games but only one of which I have paid for. A library that despite its size and wide variety of genres, I’ve only played two of the titles therein. Furthermore, there’s a similar story to tell with regard to Twitch Prime. I log in and check to see what freebies are of on offer, so I can also add them to another redundant library.
I’ve been playing video games since the eighties when I used to spend too much time playing the arcade version of Asteroids at the local swimming baths. I made the transition to PC gaming in the early nineties. Back then this meant buying a boxed copy of a game from a retail outlet, such as WH Smiths. The pricing at the time and in relation to how much I was earning, meant that I didn’t buy multiple games at once. I’d read reviews meticulously, weigh up the pros and cons for each game and then make a decision based upon what would be the most entertaining experience and offer some degree of longevity. Making purchases within such a framework made the acquisition of a new video game a very exciting process. Video games were from my perspective a luxury. Hence it took a while to build a library of games and due to the size of hard drives at this time, it’s not as if you had every game you owned installed at once. PC gaming was a hobby that required management both financially and logistically. Perhaps that was one of the aspects that made it special.
I was bought Starfleet Academy in 1997 as apart of a leaving present from a job
Twenty years on and the video game market has gone digital. Furthermore that market is now saturated and the premium price model, along with the short lifecycle of games, means that there’s only a limited window of time before prices are slashed. The ubiquity of video games, along with the fact that you can buy them on a whim, has substantially changed our relationship with them. You can purchase a game that you want, download it and play it at any time of day. You don’t have to wait for the store to open to get your hands on it. A new game is no longer a luxury; something to be saved for, then sought out and installed via multiple CD-ROMS. I may even go so far as to say I no longer imbue a new game with any great sense of value. They are transient pleasures, some of which can be bought for pocket change and then dispensed without regret, if they fail to entertain. Effectively some PC games remind me of those items you find on display at your local supermarket, as you queue for the checkout. Indulgence items such as snacks, designed to get you to spend a few extras pounds on something superfluous.
We currently live in the century of “me”, in the midst of a most decadent consumer society. Everyday we’re actively told that buying something will fill the gaping, empty void in our lives and assuage those feelings of loneliness, fear and utter despair. We are culturally conditioned to “like a bargain” regardless of its practicality. “Look what I got. A great deal on this alabaster dog kennel inlaid with depleted uranium”. The fact that you don’t have a dog is irrelevant it would seem, because you got a “deal”. Furthermore, I’m not saying all this from some position of moral superiority. Because I’m also logging on to the Epic Store and claiming all this needless free stuff, just like everyone else. But to be utterly candid, I really don’t need any of this stuff and I really should stop doing this. It reminds me of the “buy one, get one free” culture that leads to terrible food wastage. Something I didn’t realise was so damaging and problematic until recently. I suspect that the ubiquity of games and giving them away for free in this fashion, does more harm than good in the long run.