The GOG Galaxy 2.0 Beta Combines Steam, Origin, And More
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GOG Galaxy 2 0 Beta Preview One Launcher To Rule Them All
The GOG Galaxy 2.0 beta manages to combine all your game launchers into one easy-to-use interface. As the digital distribution platform wars play out, with an ever-increasing number of developers moving to their own custom online storefronts, many are wondering where it will end. If you often find yourself wondering why we need to have so many launchers, and wishing there was a simpler solution, then has you covered. Their new Galaxy 2.0 launcher aims to unite the warring platforms on your desktop and combine them into one handy solution. GOG Galaxy
Previously, the GOG Galaxy launcher was simply another platform. While it wasn’t compulsory for downloading GOG games, it offered extra features, just like every other launcher. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Galaxy 2.0 is different in that it seeks to combine several other platforms into one place. While it doesn’t include all the launchers currently available at this point, it combines enough together that life is about to get a lot easier. Combining Platforms
Galaxy 2.0 will link together your accounts from , , , and Uplay, along with your existing GOG account. You can also link your Live and accounts. Aside from the Xbox Live and GOG links, the others are all built by the community. The most popular community integrations, as listed above, are easily accessible below the main options. There is also information about how to make your own integrations. This part was the only section of the platform which felt out of my depth as a non-technical user, but it appears to be entirely optional. An option to “refresh integrations” from the main menu means that any extra popular links made by the community appear to show once completed. Once you’ve linked your accounts then can search for games by account or view a list of all the games you own across every linked platform. The GOG launcher will then connect to the original platform and allow you to load up whatever you want to play, from one place. How To Set-Up Account Integration
The set up was much easier than I expected, with the most annoying part being the two-part authentication on every single platform kicking in at once, leading to my email being spammed with notifications and codes. From GOG’s side all you needed to do was click "Add Games And Friends," followed by "Connect Platforms." You then simply logged into each account, just once, to connect them. The platform contains more specific information for your GOG games, offering all the flexibility you would expect from a launcher. You can change install locations, customize the region and alter your bandwidth settings. These all work in the same way as the previous Galaxy launcher. Playing Games
If you can remember the platform your chosen game is on, you can click on the platform-specific bookmark to access the game. Otherwise, you can choose to display the "All Games" list, which displays everything. This list appears cumbersome at first, especially if your games number well into three figures. However, GOG has taken this into account, offering a range of filters to help you find something to play. You can also search for specific titles. The filter defaults to showing only Windows games when the launcher is opened on my PC. However, there is also an option to search by Linux, MacOS, PlayStation, or Xbox. You can also filter by platform, but it’s easier to do this via the automatically added bookmarks down the left-hand side. Finally, the most useful filters are the genre ones. There are 20 different genres to filter by, meaning you can quickly scan the one you fancy to see all games of that type. You can also choose more than one genre, which is useful for those which overlap. Once you’ve chosen a game simply hit the play button at the top. A message will appear to let you know what platform you’re using and then the game will load as usual. Features
As with many other launchers, Galaxy 2.0 will track and show information and statistics, including achievements pulled from Steam. Each game has it’s own page. This includes an overview of the game, showing the game’s trailer, images and synopsis when available. It also shows the genre, style, release date and developer details. In terms of statistics, the platform mostly tracks hours played and achievements. It will count the hours for you and your friends, as well as the average number of hours across all players. If you have specific titles which you play often, you can click the bookmark symbol and add them to the left-hand side for easy access. The different platforms will be added to bookmarks automatically but clicking the bookmark flag on each page will remove them. This allows you to customize the links you want easy access to. Issues and Bugs
So far I’ve encountered fairly minimal issues with the launcher. I’ve been using it for a few days and the only real issue I encountered was when I needed to update a game. It took a few attempts before the game decided to connect and install the updates, rather than just freezing on install. However, once it did connect the install came down at a speed I would expect and then the game launched with no issues after installation. The only other obvious niggles I've encountered so far are missing information, such as game covers or details. Final Thoughts A Space Saver And A Time Saver
So far I’m very pleased with the launcher. It’s space-saving, but more importantly it’s time-saving. When I’m wondering what to play, being able to quickly access my entire games catalog, search it by genre, and then have the game open within 2 clicks is invaluable. As it comes nearer to launch and the remaining bugs are worked out, it has the potential to become the launcher of choice, it already is for me.