GOG: Customers can download installers and keep discs

On July 14 GOG posted on X that customers can download offline installers for games they have purchased and save those files to discs. The post included the line, ‘you don’t need a storefront’s permission to play what you bought.’

The message followed Sony’s announcement that it will phase out physical game discs starting in January 2028. GOG framed the update as a reminder of the platform’s DRM-free policy and the options available to users who want local copies.

GOG outlined the process for creating backups. Users must log into their GOG account, open the ‘games’ section of the profile and select ‘Download Offline Backup Game Installers’ to manually download each installer file. The company noted the service supports Mac, PC and Linux.

Some releases require many files. GOG pointed to The Witcher 3 Complete Edition as an example of a title with a large number of installer files, which can require substantial storage space and time to download. The company said the process is manual and may require basic technical knowledge.

Not all games sold elsewhere are available on GOG. Newly launched titles such as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced are not on the platform, so the offline installer option applies only to titles present in a user’s GOG library.

The post attracted significant engagement on X, registering more than 70,000 likes, about 11,000 reposts and over 870 comments, many of them positive. The post closed by repeating that players can save installers to discs and retain access to purchased games.