this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
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Drop OSS - an open-source, self-hosted alternative to platforms like Steam and Epic. (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by warmaster@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I just discovered this. Has anyone tried it?

Basically, you install it on your home server and use it to stash your DRM-free games, and then install the client on your PC, Steam Deck, whatever... log in to your server and just use it like your own, selfhosted Steam app. Any PC gamer already running Jellyfin, RomM, or other selfhosted entertainment-related server might be interested in trying it, if you do... please share your experience! I'll try it myself when I have time and post back here. If you know of any other alternatives, please share!

  • Self-hosted & open-source. Run Drop entirely on your own hardware. Your library, your data, your rules — all under the AGPLv3.

  • Rich metadata editing. Customise names, descriptions, and icons with full Markdown and image support.

  • Automatic imports. Pull cover art and game details straight from IGDB, GiantBomb, and PCGamingWiki.

  • A built-in store. Let users browse, filter, and collect games through a fully featured store.

  • Flexible authentication. Use simple accounts or hook into your existing SSO.

  • Native desktop client. Download, install, and play your whole library through a cross-platform desktop client.

Available for Windows, Mac & Linux (their web page lists a deb, their github repo publishes packages for all major distros and also an Appimage)

Website:
https://droposs.org/

Docs:
https://droposs.org/docs/admin/quickstart/

top 33 comments
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[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

stash your DRM-free games

uhuh and the jumbo shows a screenshot with a bunch of DRM-enabled games

[–] magic_smoke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Not if they're re-packs :)

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

Yea it’s quite obviously a frontend for pirated games.

[–] mursejoy@lemmy.zip 0 points 19 hours ago

Good, fuck em.

[–] WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I will still wait for the Linux Port of Playnite.Link . It is awesome on windows and is OSS, and they are finalizing a complete Linux rewrite as we are speaking so during the next release, Playnite 11, the Linux version should come out. Themeable, Extensible, and it has a good community.

[–] Bluefruit@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I think something messed up with the link you posted. Shows me a Lemmy.world page with nothing on it rather than what I assume is this: https://playnite.link/

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 3 points 2 days ago

they are finalizing a complete Linux rewrite as we are speaking

Where can I follow progress? Playnite is the only thing keeping my living room PC on Windows.

[–] Evoliddaw@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No save support? Couldn't find anything in the docs.

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 1 points 14 hours ago

It has a Ludusavi plugin which can automate backups.

[–] IronKrill@lemmy.ca 1 points 20 hours ago

I used it on Windows and remember a save backup section in game options, but it was a fully manual setup for every game.

[–] Cartilogen@mander.xyz 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is there a way to integrate Drop with steam emulators to do something similar to steam accounts? (achievements + self-hosted online)

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wait, what?

[–] Cartilogen@mander.xyz 1 points 23 hours ago

Steam emulators as in DRM removal and online play through lan like the Goldberg Steam Emu.

It would be cool if there was a way to replace the Steam server side features using Drop or another similar service.

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I love the idea behind this but for me this is overkill. It be enough for an external HDD where I can just plug in.

What would be more wow factor for me would be a community hosted solution that’s lets you upload games and let anyone download them. But I realize that’s just piracy really.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

but for me this is overkill

Yeah, some people don't even bother with Plex or Jellyfin. It's not for everyone. It's for people that like to hoard their stuff long-term, and access their stuff from anywhere, anytime.

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If I can run this as a local host and just pull in data on my machine this could be worth it. So long as the UI is to my taste. Otherwise I’ll stick with play nite or galaxy

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The thing is... if this thing is any good, eventually someone will develop a plugin for Playnite and other launchers so that they can pull in games just like they do with commercial stores. This project is really interesting.

[–] silicon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

Well it is open source soo....

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This looks great, but the one thing I need software like this to do in order for it to be useful is cloud saves (my NAS would be the cloud in this case), and I'd want those saves to be account-driven. Looks like it's "coming soon" on their feature comparison page, so I'll definitely check it out eventually. I'm months into a journey to self-host a bunch of other use cases, and this could be very nice for me.

[–] jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You could set up SyncThing to handle saves between devices

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I'm looking for a far more automated solution. Syncthing requires a lot of setup to get going, and the use case for this project is playing a lot of different games that store save files in all sorts of exotic locations.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Yeah, cloud saves are a must have. This thing looks like a young project, I hope it grows big and gets enough support.

[–] stevles@aussie.zone 2 points 2 days ago

Sounds cool, I could do with another way of managing my DRM ~~bypassed~~ free games

[–] SnailMagnitude@mander.xyz 5 points 2 days ago

ohhhh, this looks cool

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Is this meant to be like an *arr component but for games?

[–] melfie@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

This looks fantastic! I’m currently installing games manually on a few household gaming machines and this would help to simplify that. It looks like parental controls are a TODO, which would be an important feature in my case.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

another commenter shared this, you might be interested, seems more limited but more mature. https://gamevau.lt/

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Very cool! So is it a full launcher? Can I install my games and run them with proton?

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I haven't tried it yet, but their docs talk about proton, that makes me think it is a launcher.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Good, I'll set it up tonight and see how it goes

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Post back your findings 🙏🏻

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

So far it's hit and miss, it is early RC code so I expected some bumps.

I run in kubernetes, but any docker environment would work.

  • your data does need to be in a specific format, but it wasn't horrible to figure out how. From GOG games you essentially extract the .exe files into <>/<>/<> and then you do a dual import step. First you import the game, then you import the version. The game is just metadata, the version is essentially "Run this exe file"
  • I had to give it fairly hefty resources, 4 CPUs, this is so it has enough to shard out and extract files and pack them for distribution. I'd like to see this, and more developers in general, rely on using another container for jobs like this. In k8s it's very easy to say "Start a one-off job and run to the end" and let the container orchestration handle it. It's harder in docker compose, but I'd like to see a "This container runs the app, this other container runs heavy jobs".
    • Essentially I'm disappointed that I always have to have 4 cores reserved for this when imports happen very rarely.
  • OIDC from the start is very nice. I hooked it in easily with Authentik.

I'll update this as I learn more. Haven't gotten to the stage where I download and install yet.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing, also I absolutely agree... hogging resources for just in case you import a game is not good. It should be kinda like some forges have separate runners.