Although many users may think Steam is the best PC gaming platform, the reality is that there are also quite a few alternatives on the market that are perfectly able to supply Steam to play. Today we are going to give a review of the current games, seeing what the variety of games we can acquire is.
It is undeniable that the PC game platform that Valve has built with Steam, in its 16 years of existence (started to be used in 2002), is a huge giant in the world of video games. Rare or very novice is the gamer who can say that he has never bought a game using this great platform, where appointments are made from crucial distribution games to indie distribution Games completely unknown to users and that many times could go completely unnoticed by his potential customers not to have Steam.
But Steam is just one of several PC gaming platforms that users have available for use. Some of them are completely unique to certain developers, while others are more generalist, more Steam like.
Alternative PC gaming platforms to Steam:
- GOG
GOG stands for Good Old Games and is that this platform was initially created with the aim of republishing old games that could no longer be played on computers because of the evolution of the different operating systems (especially Windows, which is what these gaming platforms focus on). The platform has been developed by the responsible of studio CD Projekt (yes, the responsible of all the more than successful saga The Witcher and the upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077).
One of the great inducements of this platform is that its games are marketed without DRM. All and without exception. So they are often targeted by hackers, but this does not prevent those responsible from remaining committed to their method of distribution.
- Origin
Origin is the online store of the developer Electronic Arts but, unlike Bethesda, we can also find other games from other developers, although it is also true that it is difficult to do so. His catalog of games, as expected, is immense. However, prices are usually quite high (even for fairly old games in your list), although occasionally, ally, they launch a free game offer.
- itch.io
The platform Itch.io is one created for the distribution of indie games. As such, most games in your catalog usually have quite low prices (many of them are free and several are web games). Even so, your website will allow you to search by category and is quite well organized.
- Windows Store
Despite being a platform for games quite denoted by users, it is undeniable that Windows Store as a platform is the distribution point for many games that are created by the different studios that Microsoft has under its control. Only in it can we find games like the different versions of the Gears of War, Halo, Forza or Minecraft. The rest of the games in this store are very mobile.
- net
Battle.net it’s Blizzard’s idea to distribute his own games if he needs middlemen. As such, it is only on this platform we will be able to find games such as Starcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, etc, Lately, the platform has been opened a little, leaving Activision to distribute their game Destiny 2 with them, knowing that the proximal delivery of the game Call of Duty Black Ops 4 will also be distributed via this digital platform of games.
- Bethesda Launcher
This platform is a response from developer Bethesda to Battle.net as such, the platform is completely closed to other developers ‘ games, so you can only find games like The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein or Fallout in their different versions.
There are still more PC gaming platforms that we have not included in this article, such as Ubisoft’s Upplay or IndieGala that you could check for if you were interested.