GOG.com launches Steam Connect service

GOG.com, the digital distribution service formerly known as Good Old Games, has launched a service to connect to users' Steam libraries - gifting them DRM-free copies of selected games also available on its own platform.

Launched by CD Projekt as a means of distributing classic out-of-print titles then quickly pivoting into current-generation games and even film content, GOG.com's latest effort to encourage users to sign up is to offer DRM-free copies of games found in a user's Steam library when the two services are connected - providing, of course, that GOG itself hosts a copy of that particular game. This copy is then available in the GOG library in perpetuity, and can be downloaded and played even if Steam is not installed.

Before you get too excited, however, there's a catch: even for the small number of games available on both Steam and GOG, games will only be eligible for the offer if their publisher has approved it. Even then, the approval is time-limited: a game may be available for a single week, for example, and if not claimed during that timeframe will not be eligible for duplication into a user's GOG library. The linking is also permanent: each Steam account may be linked to only one GOG.com account, and each GOG.com account may have only one Steam account associated with it - and you can never switch to a different account in the future.

Nevertheless, the service is live now at gog.com/connect for anyone who wishes to give it a go.