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Do you prefer to buy games on Steam or GOG?

On the one hand I like GOG because it has no DRM and has better prices (in my country) than Steam and I have the feeling that on the one hand it follows more the open source philosophy than Steam itself, but Steam has helped enormously to play Windows games on Linux, so I haven’t really made up my mind.

On the one hand I want to buy on Steam for the convenience, but on the other hand I prefer GOG because (in my country) is cheaper. Which platform do you prefer and why?

To give an example, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is currently $15 on Steam with regional pricing, but on GOG it’s worth just $6.

bluetardis ,

I prefer GoG and will generally purchase from there as no drm and you end up owning your game.

However their client is a bit shit and has been for a long time (GoG galaxy). You really only need it for updates though.

Steam excels for games with lots of mods/workshop. It just works.

otp ,

Basically in the same as you, but Steam is cheaper in my country, and I have a larger library of modern games there thanks to Humble Bundle and friends gifting me games there

lemmyng ,
@lemmyng@lemmy.ca avatar

My decision tree roughly follows these steps:

  • Steam for games that have an online multiplayer content, because GoG Galaxy sucks ass on Linux.
  • Steam for games that objectively run better on Proton.
  • GoG for games that support LAN multiplayer.

I used to also prioritize GoG because it was largely DRM-free, but the Luna partnership is putting doubt on that.

Dudewitbow ,

steam if multiplayer, since i have the client open all the time so it can update. I liek to have GOG handle single player experiences if possible and offered. though its really for me pricing, and generally speaking, 3rd party stores give me the better deal for steam keys. (not like g2a or anything, but like humble and shit)

Protoknuckles ,

I love GOG, and support GOG, especially when it comes to nostalgic old PC games… but… I love steam achievements, I love the Steam Deck, and I love seeing my gaming stats, like top 10 games played and such. So I default to Steam.

PlzGivHugs ,

When its cheap, I sometimes buy on GOG, but its almost always more expensive than Steam in my region, even before accounting for bundles, which is how I buy the majority of my games. It also doesn’t help that most of the games I play aren’t on even GOG, when I do go to look, discoverability isn’t great, and I’ve had some issues with GOG’s support in the past (nothing major, just a pain compared to Steam).

I do like the Idea of GOG, but with developers/publishers generally being uncooperative with publishing off-Steam, and GOG just missing too many features anyway, I can rarely justify it.

lunarul ,

I buy games on Steam for the achievements. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Steam achievements, I’d have never made the switch from pirated games to buying them.

Bigfish ,

GoG Galaxy does achievements too!

MeekerThanBeaker ,

Why pirate games at all? I never understood that.

If games (or movies) are too expensive or not good enough to buy, why download them at all?

bassomitron ,

If you don’t understand why some folks pirate by this time, you never will. There are plenty of valid–and not-so-valid–reasons to pirate. If you actually care, just type the question into a search engine, there’s a plethora of well written articles on the subject.

MeekerThanBeaker ,

99% of people who pirate don’t want to pay for their entertainment. They’ll come up with any excuse as to why they think it’s justified to make them feel better. “F corporations and their drm, this will teach them.”

The other 1% is for when it’s not available by legitimate means or if by chance something they did pay for and was then taken away or something wasn’t working through legitimate ways, then I get it… but again, that’s for 1%.

Another option is to not download at all.

Cyo ,
@Cyo@lemmy.world avatar

Steam, I can install the Steam client without any problems on moat distros, also Valve has done a lot of things to make the Linux gaming better.

Gog doesn’t have a desktop app for Linux, they’re focused totally Windows so I don’t care about it.

If I want “DRM free” games, then I pay for the original version with DRM and then pirate it to play whenever I want.

Davel23 ,

I'm all-in on Steam, but I like that GOG exists and I hope it sticks around.

Peasley ,

I’ve given up on GOG. No linux client means the whole process of installing/launching games is rather tedious. Also linux game dependencies can be annoying to resolve

Steam on the other hand just handles everything. If it doesn’t work at first, it probably will with proton.

I’d love to support an anti-DRM store, but it’s tough when there is so much friction when actually playing the games

lath ,

Most users complaining about this seem to have been using innoextract or Heroic.

Twig ,
@Twig@sopuli.xyz avatar

Lutris makes the Linux experience easier

lath ,

I buy keepers on GOG and then place them on separate drives. On Steam i buy stuff I’m ok with losing. It’s one Gabe away from exploitation shenanigans.

yuuunikki ,

You guys buy games? Lol 🏴‍☠️

kamiheku ,

Imagine pirating games in 2024

BananaTrifleViolin ,

You can add games to Steam to use proton so where they came from doesn’t matter. You can also use Proton forks and bypass steam altogether - much of the underlying tech is Wine; proton is a patched and optimised version of Wine not a stand alone Valve product. Its great what they’ve done but it is still a collaborative open source effort.

As for which store, I go on price and sometimes go with GOG even if more expensive because of DRM, and sometimes Steam because of the convenience of the workshop.

I don’t think it needs to be any more complex than that - these are company’s taking your money for the same product. Its kinda pointless being “loyal” to a retailer - its more important to focus on value for money and quality of service for each purchase.

Oha ,

Steam. I would 100% buy them on gog if Steams cloud saves werent so damn convenient

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