^
I see GOGs default response to anything is still going strong then.

“Why can I not use free multiplayer services”, “use our optional galaxy client”
“Why does my life have no achievements”, “use our optional galaxy client”
“What is the North Pole shrinking”, “use our optional client and maybe you will find out”
“Why are there all these apps tracking everything I do”, “why not use out optional galaxy client and...oh”

Perhaps you could re-brand:
GOG, the home of optional clients.

FTFY ;-)

It was about as lively as the Wii-U was during it's life. So dying.

Does that mean linking a Steam account is no longer permanent?

Thanks for your reply (and thanks to everyone else), if it is indeed no longer supported then it might be time to update this page: https://www.gog.com/connect, especially section 7 which encourages you to check back regularly.

"We'll be doing our best to expand GOG Connect in the future! You'll need to import new games when they're added, so stay tuned and check back regularly to see if anything new has been added. "

Maintain the offline installers and you will have content customers.
Also, try not to make them any more bloated.

You can't know that for sure.
It's like any advertising or promotional gimmick, and games get given away fro free all the time ... look at Epic's weekly free game(s) alone, and they aren't the only ones by a long shot, just the most regular and higher quality maybe, and lots of them.

With GOG, Connect has always been a limited service, so clearly not meant to be an enticement to buy at Steam and get free at GOG. That's never been encouraged by the real world situation. It was more luck of the draw, and clearly DEVs and PUBs needed to be onside with it.

There is also rarely a clear link between a freebie and a purchase due to that, which goes for all such marketing attempts.

So I imagine GOG used Connect for image and enticing someone to make an account. Once you make an account, it is one step closer to making a purchase ... one less deterrent.

GOG Connect could also be seen as like a try-before-you-buy ... compare existing DRM to DRM-Free version.

P.S. And you have to ask yourself, what is the point of buying at Steam, because you are happy to do so, and then get the game here for free? If you are not a convert to GOG, then what have GOG lost? On the other hand, GOG may have pleased a customer, which might result in a sale sometime.

I'm sure it did attract new members to GOG and pleased some existing ones.

But like any marketing, it is eventually down to what seemingly works the best and what you can afford.

I have gotten a few games via GOG Connect, which pleased me greatly, and while GOG peeve me at times, I still champion them now and then, and have spent plenty of money here, and have encouraged others to do so too.

I think most users just grabbed the Connect freebies, were like "Huh, GOG is really cool for giving me backup copies of my games" and then continued buying on Steam. I've hardly seen anyone say they will be shopping on GOG from now on and make it their primary store for games aside from maybe getting older games here since they are tweaked to run better. A lot of people still refer to GOG as "Good Old Games" which it hasn't been for nearly a decade and treat it as the store where you get old games and nothing else.

It was a cool idea, sure, but I doubt that it was very profitable for GOG or even the publishers. I too have a few games on Steam I'd love to get here without buying them again but I've made my choice buying them on Steam and that's fine. GOG is not a charity and they don't owe me a free copy.

People were constantly getting confused and thinking if they bought on gog they'd get steam keys, in some cases attacking regulars on here for saying that defeats the whole purpose of being a drm free store. I'm glad it's gone. It did nothing for regulars considering most of the time the steam version is better supported by the devs anyway.

You are not asking the questions I suggested.
So I will add some more.

Why if someone loves Steam, would they say "Huh, GOG is really cool for giving me backup copies of my games"? Why would they even care? And what loss is it to GOG if that person doesn't change ship. It's not like the person got the game free, they paid for it at Steam, it's just a free copy. Which copy is the Steam happy person likely to bother playing?

However, that person might jump ship or might like GOG enough to also buy games at GOG as well as Steam.

If a Steam buyer cares enough to grab a free version at GOG, that implies they see value in GOG's product.
And maybe like I suggested, they will try the DRM-Free version out and compare it to their DRM experience.
If it isn't a better experience with DRM-Free, then what have GOG lost? Just a potential customer who isn't one really, because they prefer the DRM experience. That customer may have gotten a free version of a Steam game they already had, but if they prefer the Steam version, then it will sit unused, so how have they benefited?
The only customer who benefits is the one that prefers the GOG DRM-Free experience, and they are likely to buy at GOG then, so a win for GOG.

The copies are free for users but probably not free for GOG. GOG likely has to pay for those "free" copies. That's the loss. Who knows how much time and effort it took just to get Steam and the publishers/developers to accept Connect? That'd be another loss.

You know, it would be really nice to have a little TM on the end of this. Come on GOG, everyone else is doing it. Don't you want to be cool?

dead

it should have been a fe 90% discount if you own the game on other stores
then it would be wildly used by publishers

I understand why Connect is largely unused but it would be nice to get occasional updates from the team as to whether or not they're making any sort of progress in getting other games onto the program.

In reality that is unknown, and Steam don't really have a say. It is all about a user's settings at Steam ... the user giving permission to share, which happens with GOG and many others, so not a GOG only thing or deal with Steam. GOG just take advantage of what Steam provide. A Steam User gives permission at Steam for their library details to be shared with a site (GOG or some other site).

As has been stated, it is all about a DEV/PUB agreeing. It doesn't happen without them.
Whether GOG compensate them or not I have no idea, but I suspect not ... or we would surely have seen more.

If GOG are compensating the DEV/PUB then they are doing the wrong thing. The DEV/PUB have already been paid ... it is a known fact ... unless of course the user got the game free at Steam ... but did Steam already compensate them.