GOG’s Steam Rival Goes Live Today

The wonderful online digital game store Good Old Games (GOG) is launching its own digital game distribution platform to rival Steam and EA’s Origin. GOG Galaxy goes live today, and a beta version of the client is available for download here. The standalone client shares much in common with Steam, Origin, and other rival platforms, offering achievements and friends lists, but GOG’s unique selling point is a firm stance against DRM.

GOG’s press release reads:

GOG Galaxy features one-click installation and auto-updates for its library of over 1000 titles, but it also stays true to GOG.com values: it’s all optional. Automatic updating can be disabled for any game; but if you leave it on and a patch breaks something, GOG Galaxy will offer its rollback feature to restore a previous version of the game. Gamers can also download a standalone, DRM-free backup copy of every game, so keeping purchases safe is easier than ever.

GOG can be taken at its word on this: the creators, associated with CD Projekt Red, developer of the Witcher games, are famously anti-DRM. GOG Galaxy sounds like the real deal, offering GOG’s impressive catalogue of games, and will be welcome competition to market leader Steam.

Thank you Kotaku for providing us with this information.