The decision to steam depends on your needs. What are you considering?
The decision to steam depends on your needs. What are you considering?
Hi there. You're starting out in PC gaming—great choice! Steam isn't essential if you're just looking to play games like Cyberpunk 2077 or MS Flight Simulator 2020. You can definitely buy physical copies or download them directly through Steam. Using Steam offers benefits such as access to a large game library, community features, and sometimes special discounts or updates. It's not just extra clutter but a convenient way to connect with other gamers and enjoy the full experience. Let me know if you need more details!
Looking to purchase discs? I haven't owned a reader for any kind of optical storage in my PC for more than ten years, and I'm not sure how to use them. We've relied on Steam as our main hub for gaming for many years now. All our games are stored there, the sales are amazing, and everyone in our gaming circle stays linked through it. It's almost a necessity for PC gaming these days unless... you're really considering buying games by disc in 2021.
there are three main approaches: - purchase from the nearest source to the original release (such as buying Flight Simulator 2020 from the MS Store and Cyberpunk 2077 via GOG.com) - obtain the cheapest option, typically through key websites that sell Steam or Epic Games Store listings - gather as many titles as possible from one platform so everything stays under one account, with Steam likely being the most convenient choice in this scenario Either way, buying physical copies only justifies it if they’re cheaper than a digital version, since you’ll need to download at least a day one patch update either way, and FS2020 requires around 150GB of download space.
Steam brings together your friends, game mods, and other useful features. Some might say developers don’t benefit as much from Steam compared to selling games directly, yet I think they reach more people because of it. You can purchase everything yourself, but shopping on Amazon or Walmart is far simpler.
Some retailers offering Xbox and PS4 packaged titles also carry a selection of PC games.
Today's typical packaged PC games usually come with a card that lets you add them to your account in [insert launcher here], not even physical discs. A few include discs for initial content, but you still need the launcher and it will push tons of extra files and updates on top. Because big games require so many discs it's impractical, and frequent updates make it unfeasible. It's been a long time since a standalone disc could install and run by itself without needing an online service or updates.
Only the first page of the only store I’ve looked at... Forza Horizon 5, Sims 4, Age of Empires 4, FIFA 22, Farming Simulator 22, Conan Exiles, Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 2042. So no—just modern games. Probably for gift buyers or those without digital payments, or maybe companies not seeing the need for a day one update either way.