I've been a solid GOG user for, well, since it really was just a little site for computer game archaeology. I really dislike Steam, and I'd really like to continue to use GOG, but it's getting to the point where I just can't justify the terrible experience of being a Mac GOG user any more.

Did you know that GOG doesn't even support native Apple Silicon builds of games? Three years (practically to the day) after the M1 mini was released, as far as I can tell, all the games run from Galaxy run in Intel mode. Even if the developer ships a universal binary, it runs from Galaxy in Intel compatibility mode. This means a few things:

* A game shipped by GOG run much more slowly and poorly than the same game shipped by Steam, if it's launched from Galaxy on any Mac made in the last three years.
* Because of this. developers aren't incentivized to release Universal binaries on GOG. This means that many of the games out there that have Apple Silicon versions on Steam don't on GOG. Pay the same amount, get an inferior product.
* Some developers have recently begun releasing exclusively Apple Silicon versions of their games, because Apple Silicon is really quite good for graphics and Intel Macs were never more than mediocre. Guess what this means on GOG? If you said "Heeey, is that why there is no Mac version of a certain space game whose name starts with N and ends with 'o Man's Sky' on GOG?" then congratulations: you're almost certainly right, although of course nobody has been willing to admit this. But yeah: if they did release it on GOG, it wouldn't *launch*. Nice? Of course, GOG blames the publisher for not putting the Mac version of NMS on its site. That seems rude, under the circumstances.
* A few developers DO ship universal binaries on the Mac. Some (or at least one) don't actually work. Vagrus, if launched in Apple Silicon mode, just crashes. They don't know this, because they only testing they do is by launching from Galaxy, which... well, you get the idea. Pretty funny, really. Presumably it does work on Steam, because otherwise people would be complaining, but it doesn't work when bought from GOG.
* Within the next couple of years, Apple is going to release a version of macOS which doesn't even include Rosetta. I have every confidence that this will, despite everyone knowing about it in theory ever since 2020, catch GOG entirely off guard. Even if they do get a new native Galaxy out before the OS is released, almost none of their game library will work with it. And most of it will probably never be backfilled.

Meanwhile, as much as I loathe Steam's client and its user experience, nobody will even *notice* when Rosetta goes away on that platform, except for those running some of the older games which haven't gotten updated in the last three years. Otherwise, everything will just work.

So basically, every time they buy a game on GOG, Mac users are in a position of paying the same amount for a much worse product than on Steam, and quite likely for no product at all in a year or two.

As well, GOG seems to have decided that OS badges on their store page are ... unsightly? Cluttered? I don't know. In any case, they have decided not to show them any more in Galaxy, as far as I can tell. So I can't tell if any of the games they're advertising are actually applicable to me or not. I can still search by OS, but if I launch GOG and it says 'HEY GET THIS COOL NEW GAME!' I have to click on it to see whether I can, you know, actually play it. That seems like a pretty dumb decision. I mean, hell, even if you only showed them on the Mac and Linux versions of Galaxy, that would at least be something.

GOG may honestly not care about Mac users' business. That's fine. But they should at least be up front about that fact. I've blown a lot of money trying to support a company who is making no effort to support me, when there is a perfectly mediocre — i.e. much, much better — alternative.

(And thank you to all the folks who are going to tell me to get a Windows machine, it's a terribly helpful suggestion and I've never thought of it before my goodness yes.)

Get a Windows machine (you can thank me by clicking on the green plus icon)

So much this. I don't really game much but still can understand as one of the (though not the only one) reasons I don't game as much is GOG terrible support on Mac.

Luckily, Duskers works just fine, but doesn't have the daily challenges.
Neverwinter Nights has a universal app when launch standalone, but that's because (and I can't believe I'm saying it) Beamdog is cool now?

Even CD Project games work better on Steam than GOG if you're not on Windows.

PS: buying a Windows PC just for gaming is not the answer. You can get a console for far less money. The idea behind people gaming on Macs is that we're happy with our Mac and don't want to get another PC just for gaming.

The GOG Linux experience is far from terrible... it's virtually non-existent! Yet here we are, near the (hopefully) eternal fires of DRM-free(-ish).

Auf Wiedersehen.

Blame Apple for killing mac gaming by destroying 32-bit compatibility and switching to ARM.

If you don't want to go to Windows, go to Linux at least. You can run GOG Galaxy through WINE without too much trouble,

Agree with this. It's uncommon enough at times to see a Linux version of some games and I could totally believe it sells better than a Mac version. A Linux version sees a developer working on the same PC hardware but a different OS while if I remember correctly Apple's new hardware is all ARM NOT x86.
I'm actually on GOG's side here on just including the Mac version and if it doesn't work as expected, like you said it was probably Intel because x86 vs. ARM.
If you are in the professional field using a Mac you will get that support because that's where the people spending money are using it. I would just as use DaVinci Resolve, gimp and ProTools or AviD to not handle the headache and nerfed FinalCut. That being said I would take FinalCut over Adobe because you can actually buy and not have your stuff stolen by Adobe for AI.

If that's true, how about just not using Galaxy? The main reason to buy on GOG is offline installers anyway.

A lot of people PREFER clients. I'm not one of them, I've never even installed Galaxy to take a look at, despite being curious just to see it. But there are lots of us that don't want a client, and there a lot of others who do very much want a client to do things like, auto-update, track achievements, manage downloads, etc. I suspect OP is one of them. If you prefer a client, and Galaxy isn't working out for you, then one who prefers a client only has the option of one that does work for them, apparently in OP's case, Steam. So it's a rational choice to leave gog. Of course, if I had my druthers, gog would get Galaxy to a point where it's good and good on all OS's, so that gog wouldn't lose more customers because I sure do want gog to survive, and thrive.

I see you're from "Other" so I'm not sure if it's a holiday weekend for you like it is here in the US, but I hope you're having a great one either way. And Happy Thanksgiving to anyone reading who is enjoying turkey, football, crazy uncles' and all else holiday traditions. Happy gaming!

This post will likely cost me a ban but the heck....

A cheap laptop able to run most older GOG games costs only a few hundred dollars, if you can afford those fancy fashion accessories from the cult of Steve I'm sure you can stretch your wallet to get a dedicated gaming device.
GOG means Good Old Games, which mostly are released under Microsoft operating systems, some of the from the era where Apple had to be rescued by Microsoft...

CD Projekt is not Valve and they have to economise, meaning that it's a miracle they support the other minority platform (aka Linux), which thankfully is easier to work with due to its open nature.

Instead of complaining to a small store fighting hard to keep games out of walled gardens you should be mad at Apple for putting higher and higher fences in their walled garden, killing legacy in the process.
Apple has never been a fair player but with them gaining market share its representing the worst practices of the market and with enough market share it would become way worse than the "worst" days of Microsoft domination.

So please don't let the door hit you on your way out and remember you can use your overpriced toy because Bill was forced to rescue Steve in 1997...

gog supports linux fine.

What's the weather like in 2011? Oh, who am I kidding, no matter what the weather is like, I envy you being there anyway.

Anyway, if someone is going to use a client, I don't know why you bother with GOG. So leaving sounds like a solid idea. Cheers, godspeed, good luck, we're all counting on you.

Well then ... so long.

I totally get that. That said, Apple doesn't do Mac gamers any favors by continuously breaking backwards compatibility, intentionally or unintentionally. In addition, a lot of game devs/publishers seem to be quite uninterested in actually maintaining their completed games as well; who wants to put extra effort in years-old titles for a relatively small audience because Apple keeps breaking shit? As you mentioned, it's very likely Apple will discontinue Rosetta 2 down the line - just as they did with the original Rosetta after the PPC-to-Intel switch - so even more games will stop working.

As a side activity gaming is somewhat doable on Macs, but for those who like to game as a primary hobby I would never ever recommend them for such. I myself have tried for a number of years and given up on Mac gaming. It's no wonder most online stores treat Mac like the ugly stepchild. Hell, even the Mac App store isn't terribly good.

If the door hits your rear end on the way out, it will have been some degree of reluctance at the threshold.