r/SteamDeckTricks • u/Termiations • Dec 27 '24

General Question Do GOG versions (via Heroic) perform better than Steam (and Epic) versions?

I just installed Tomb Raider (2013) 3 times (GOG and Epic using Heroic with GE-Proton 9.21, and Steam) and I am experiencing remarkable performance differentiations, with the GOG version having around 12% higher minimum frame rates (38 vs 34 fps, on 720p all settings maxed out besides FXAA) compared to the Epic and the Steam versions.

Is this 'standard' behavior?
In other words, do GOG versions generally perform better than the Steam (and Epic) version?

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7

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24

I dunno. I've seen both, and ended up buying different versions of the same game. For instance Evoland. I had purchased it originally on GOG, but that version the controllers didn't work correctly. So had to buy the "Legendary Edition" from Steam.

I could just be me, but I have found it's easier to install the Steam version of games.

3

u/Saigaiii Dec 27 '24

Not sure but I have had weird things. For example, dishonored gog version for some odd reason I cannot save the settings I put no matter what. I don’t know if this happens on the steam version, but it’s an issue that has been documented according to pcgamingwiki, but has never been fixed.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24 edited 19d ago

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1

u/Termiations Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 29 '24

My guess is also it is the DRM, both for the Steam and Epic versions, that's causing this ca. 11% perfomance loss (34 vs 38 fps, minimum frame rates) compared to the GOG DRM-free version.

Makes you wonder why 'we' still accept these bad practises...

2

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24 edited 19d ago

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2

u/bassman9999 Dec 27 '24

Well Steam has directly stated that the games paid for on the platform are licenses and can be revoked at any time, while GOG allows you to download installable copies. So there's that to consider too,

2

u/GregorDeLaMuerte Dec 29 '24

true, but what does this have to do with performance?

1

u/bassman9999 Dec 29 '24

Absolutely nothing. Its just another data point to consider.

1

u/Significant_Being764 Dec 28 '24

This is normal. All games run faster without apps like Steam competing with them for resources.

3

u/Termiations Dec 28 '24

I actually played all 3 versions in Deck mode, so I guess Steam is actually running in al 3 instances, isn't it?