Last week, "Cult of the Lamb" released on Steam and GOG. While Steam already got two or three bug-fixing updates (Version 1.06), GOG is still stuck with Version 1.0.3.

GOG should have a discussion with either the publisher or the main development studio, not with porting partner like DO Games or whatever. If a developer can push their own updates on Steam, GOG should do EVERYTHING to make sure that original developers themselves push their updates on GOG.

Let's be honest, if publishers and developers decide to rely on a third party like DO Games to push updates on GOG, it pretty much means that they don't care about GOG or that they are intimidated by GOG.

I'm really annoyed by the state of Cult of the Lamb. I wishlisted that game a few months ago and I was eager to buy it, but I'm so glad I waited and still have to buy it.

If nothing happens, I'll simply not buy the game at all. I want a DRM-free version, but not an old version.

GOG, do something!

Agreed. Unfortunately it appears many, if not most, devs would much rather not bother releasing on GOG at all because GOG brings in hardly any money compared to Steam. If GOG loses a certain amount of money maybe they'll be forced to do something or just go bankrupt to end the suffering.

Dev contact options: https://massivemonster.co/contact

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https://twitter.com/MassiveMonsters

I would rather say: Needs a unified patch/beta/experimental-branch and DLC-release platform ... The main problem with patches is incoherent version naming and numbering, making it difficult to compare whether a game is up-to-date or lagging behind Steam. In some rare cases, The Evil Within 1&2 comes to mind, the GOG version according to the library is 1.0 while Steam shows there are 6 patches. Natural conclusion: out of date. Wrong! The GOG version, while remaining at v1.0, already includes all patches + content updates. That's not the case with Cult of the Lamb, where it's clear that patches are missing, and no idea when there will be a release.

The way it is now, we got to chase after developers on different platforms, and their discords (because some care even less for Steam forums that GOG), only so to eventually receive what they released. That's not guaranteed. Some devs just release some version here and never release any DLC or patches ... Yet their games are still sold here: Niffelheim, Plane Mechanic Simulator and a number of other games should be pulled for that reason alone.

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Work out something to guarantee customers to receive the full experience, without having to wait days, weeks, months or in vein. If something is sold here, it should be supported equally as well as on every other platform a developer or publisher sells their product! I really hope that someday this will sink into companies' and individual heads, this isn't some sort of fan service to release games but a business, and they got to step up to the plate and deliver to all customers, not just one platform they prefer - because either they feel it's not necessary or is more convenient to stick to Steam or Epic. That's not how this should work. This attitude should be punished because it reflects back on GOG as store and platform where it will cost them a good number of sales. Funny when it's okay to remain silent when its about customers and need for updates, it's fans or whatever after all, no? Not! And on the other hand it's serious business when it's developers->store/platform

"The main problem with patches is incoherent version naming and numbering, making it difficult to compare whether a game is up-to-date or lagging behind Steam"

Yeah... That is problematic... The rejected patch for Cult of the Lamb would have been numered 1.2 even though it really only was 1.0.8.

I think GOG should make sure that developers have operationalized processes in place (i.e., that they are ready) to quickly “compile” (I don’t know the exact wording) a GOG-compliant build (for patches) before actually allowing the first build to reach customers.

I mean… If I understand the documentation, there are known methods to translate every feature from Steamworks to GOG’s equivalents.

Unfortunately, GOG are not really in control and don't have much power to push anything, and have to play it careful I reckon. The only power GOG have, is to say yay or nay to a game, and saying nay may mean losing the goodwill of the DEV and or PUB.

At the end of the day, it is down to the DEV and or PUB and people power.

The Cult of the Lamb thing is sad, the game is great so anything holding it back is a downer. It's tricky to make sure patches match other platformers outside of adding some sort of contract clause

There was a time, when games were only available on disc, and before that floppy.

So if you needed a patch or an update, initially they only came on the same type of media, often via a computer magazine disc.

Later, there were music gaming sites and even the provider (developer / publisher) sites that provided patches and updates.

With the advent of tougher and more intrusive DRM, then often you could only get updates and patches through the likes of Steam etc.

With GOG of course, there is no DRM or it has been disabled (multiplayer aside).

So why is it we are so reliant on GOG for patches and updates?
We have been told, that there is a delay at GOG when it comes to Offline Installer updates, due to the way they are created etc. And then you have the scenario where there isn't parity with Steam in many cases.
Why cannot the game provider meanwhile provide the patches and updates at their website or an affiliated one?
Why do we have to wait?
Why can't the spotlight be on the provider, rather than GOG, especially as GOG seem to struggle to keep up?

A recent thread here mentioned that GOG had some builds (patch updates) for a game, but hadn't yet provided them due to some status issue. But at least one person needed one of those patches so they could actually play the game they had bought at GOG. Instead of just telling the GOG customer about those builds sitting in some kind of limbo or purgatory, why didn't the provider provide a download link for the needed one(s)?

It seems to me, that when a provider says the hold up is GOG not them, then why aren't they providing as well?

Has anyone here asked these questions before?

Because GOG is the distributor. Most game devs/pubs don't have an infrastructure in place to support such because they don't need it. A lot of the people saying "GOG should demand x or y" don't seem to understand that that would spell doom for GOG. People would pull their games from here rather than deal with an onerous GOG. While I agree there needs to be better efforts to maintain parity, but how? How do they do it when the publishers hold most of the chips because GOG is not a major source of income for them? If the GOG situation ends up costing the pub/dev too much in bad PR, they'll just stop. Then GOG has nothing to sell. Then what?

I think there are 2 issues here from what Ive read although I could be mistaken so forgive me if so.

1) Regarding Cult of the Lamb

Apparently this game is really buggy even on console and suffers from the same bugs as the GOG version. I believe only the Steam version got an update and GOG didnt allow this patch to go through because this patch actually introduces a new bug into the game as well. It seems to be that Cult of the Lamb still needs troubleshooting and there is no good option.

2) Version parity with steam in general
I agree that this is a big issue with GOG. I believe the thread "devs that treat GOG customers as second class citizens" covers it best but there are many games on GOG that are missing features or content that is available on the steam version. This can range from minor things such as achievements to bigger things like patches to really major such as free game content. Unfortunately, the onus is on the developers to release these patches and fixes to GOG and many of these developers dont. Not sure what GOG can do regarding this.

I wasn't talking about distribution and all that entails, just a link to a patch or update. Simple as having a file or files on a server and providing a link to them. A patch is the simplest of course, because it is worthless on its own, without the game. For a full update, essentially the game, they would need some check in place in the installer, and that could be checking the MD5 of a previous Offline Installer(s) or the main executable(s) ... several ways they could do it really.

The issues related to infrastructure are financial based. They don't have to be a store, to do what I have suggested.

What I suggested would only be an interim solution so not permanent.

If developers care about their game and the customers willing to buy it, it is the least they can do really to ensure some kind of timely parity.

P.S. As in the past with games, you only need a middleman to sell them, not use them necessarily to provide updates or patches.

You're tech savvy enough to know that a file on a server has a limit to access it, and everything. THAT is distribution. And I'm not even getting into legal problems to do with GOG and others (ahem VALVᴱ) for distribution, I'm talking about having a server, (and fronting the cost for that) and allowing people to download from it (also fronting the cost for bandwidth). Sure, they don't need a full store, or the equipment to handle it, but the days of putting a file up for download on your own computer are almost entirely behind us. Maybe they could post it to MEGA or similar hosting sites. But even those have limited downloads, even on paid accounts.

Yes I know there is likely to be some small cost involved, which I am sure they would find ways to minimize, even have a timed deal with GOG, penalty based if you like.

The other aspect of this, is that developers do an update or patch and then wrap it to be suitable for Galaxy installing. Then GOG unwrap and or rewrap it to do the Offline Installers. All quite silly really, though there is some level of automation ... not enough though, which is why Offline Installers often fall behind parity.