GOG moves to challenge Steam and Origin with GOG Galaxy platform

Gog.com has long billed itself as a digital distribution platform for DRM-free PC games, and now it's doubling down on that moniker by launching a standalone client called GOG Galaxy. The company announced GOG Galaxy during its "Summer Conference" livestream today and offered scant details about how the platform will work or when it will launch, though it promised to provide more information later this year. Gog.com took pains to portray GOG Galaxy as an "optional platform" that will not incorporate any additional DRM technology. According to the teaser video (embedded above), users will be able to do things like create profiles, communicate with friends on the service and enable the client to automatically download updates for games. GOG Galaxy is being positioned as a DRM-free alternative to extant digital distribution platforms like Steam, and it's not alone -- Trion Worlds recently launched its DRM-free platform Glyph in an attempt to carve out a market niche for a digital storefront with a small catalog of games that's built into existing MMORPG clients.