I buy from Steam because of the excellent Linux support, and Steam input.
I buy from GOG because I like owning my games and I like preserving good old games.
Every time I buy a game I make a choice based on those criteria.
I don't like owning games twice.
The choice isn't always easy, but that's OK.
Buy on gog if it's there. Buy on steam otherwise. Keep a pirate copy handy either way.
Steam can turn on a dime and we have seen what they can be like suspending the accounts of dead older brothers and letting developers abuse their customers. GOG is fundamentally free.
If it's single player I go gog. If it's multiplayer and there's at least a 5% chance my friends will get it then I go with steam.
Every gimmicky feature on steam is fluff to lock you into an ecosystem. Buying steam games for achievements for example is really silly.
Truth is if you care about a sustainable games industry, then drm free and maximising developer cut is the right choice.
Choose the option that gives the developer the biggest cut, like itch or directly, and just use a launcher aggregator to manage it from one place like heroic launcher or playnite. I personally use gog for most but will use an alternative if it supports the dev better.
I don't consider Steam Input to be a gimmick. I use it to turn my Steam Controller (2015) into a mouse/keyboard like experience on a controller. Setting things up like touch activate gyro with mouse bound to the touchpads and gyro. And then using a combination of modeshifts and chords to shift the touchpads into a set of 5 inputs on edge/center tap and then an additional 5 when holding down the left grip. This lets me keep my thumbs on movement and camera controls throughout the game, and have to rely less on weapon wheels. An example is where I left click on my right to reload, center click to melee, up click to switch to gadget 1, and right click to switch to gadget 2, down click to switch to gadget 3. I also use Steam Input to set a sprint on the outer edge, so I can sprint when I want to instead of having to rely on things like toggle sprint or auto sprint.
And when I use regular dual joystick controllers like the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 Wireless I'll set the extra bumper button to act as a modeshift to turn the joystick or facebuttons into a dpad as an example, so I don't have to move my left thumb off the joystick to the dpad and temporarily lose my ability to move. This made Nier Replicant a fun experience for me setting up the dpad to switch between the 3 different weapons during combat while being able to continue to move around. Steam Input also lets me set up mouse input on the gyro while retaining analog triggers without having to bother with the much less feature rich 8bitdo controller app. People have used Steam Input to set up touch activated gyro on the dualsense and used conductive tape to set up touch activated gyro like on the Steam Deck and the upcoming Steam Controller (2026).
Steam Input also has things like touch menus and radial menus, so it can really change the gameplay experience due to being able to set up configs for game actions devs didn't set it up to do. Like an example is Doom Eternal where people kept asking to be able to bind specific weapons to the facebuttons or dpad so people could quick switch like keyboard users instead of the weapon wheel to bypass reload animation and shoot faster. Devs finally provided that option much much later, but Steam Input users were able to do things like set up a modeshift so holding down the right bumper would shift the facebuttons into something like keyboard keys 1,2,4,4 and behave as regular XYAB when the right bumper isn't held down without need for devs to change the game.
Steam Input changed the controller experience to one where I don't use aim assist on controllers, so when most people default to aim assist in games that just goes to show how valuable Steam Input has been for controller users who utilize it and want more from the controller experience beyond default Xbox controller setup. I would enjoy games less if Steam Input went away because of how feature rich it is compared to other controller remappers out there. Gotten to a point where even if I play non Steam games I'm trying to get Steam Input working with it, so I can customize my controller experience.
For linux support steam is king. Getting gog games working is a bit of an obstacle. Gog really needs to get a linux native client to remove the barrier of entry.
I agree that GOG should put out a Linux client to make things easier, but with Heroic as an alternative, getting the games working is pretty painless. The only thing that sucks there is that Heroic doesn't update its Proton versions on its own.
I try to go GOG first, so I can keep the installation kits offline. There are however a lot of good indies on Steam, and few of these ever get ported from there. Steam workshop is also fantastic and doesn't really have a match on other platforms, and unlike GOG they provide good linux support. Also worth noting that some of the old games on GOG are inferior to their steam counterparts ( see Commander Keen for example ). So yes, I'd say both are good, but maybe prioritise GOG first.
I buy most co-op ("always online" like Darktide or Helldivers 2) games on Steam (, ...) since they're often not available on GOG
For single-player, I prefer to wait for it to be on GOG. Sometimes it's on release, other times it takes a few months (Expedition 33) or years, but I have plenty enough backlog
Just whatever’s easiest. If you really hate DRM they get it on gog, if you don’t mind it, get it on steam.
I've been a Steam only buyer for a long time. There are so many cool features and extra stuff, most games work out of the box, and they've been putting in a lot of effort on the linux scene with proton and the deck. But even despite all that, I'm starting to move to GOG. The sad truth is that you don't own any of your games on Steam. I've been having more and more games be removed from my library, and games that either just don't work or are "updated" into something worse. Not Steam's fault really, but GOG is much more consumer friendly and I actually get files I can use and keep forever, no required updates or DRM. I really like Steam, and am having a hard time leaving it, but GOG is just the better choice from a long term and consumer ethics perspective.
You can't buy games from Steam.
You can only license them for private use, subject to a change in licensing terms or disappearance of the game from the platform at any time.
Buying a game on Steam gets you the same perpetual license for your copy of the game as it does on GoG (the same as any software). The difference is Steam's DRM (requiring the Steam Client to run the game). AFAIK Steam have said in the past that they have a plan to remove it if Steam shuts down.
Here's a video that lays it out in detail as to what game ownership means amongst other things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUAX0gnZ3Nw.
The big question about all this stuff is how far companies (both game and non-game software) can push their "you don't own your software" agenda before facing a significant legal challenge and what the outcome of that legal challenge will be.
The difference is you can download and keep the installers from gog and back it up yourself. Gog just acts as a store front and download service. You always keep it. It's the only true form of software ownership. If you had your steam account removed right now, some games you have installed would no longer launch.
Some games you have bought on gog would also not launch if the publisher decides it. Not all gog games are DRM free.
OTOH, some games have no DRM on steam (not even the steam DRM), and can be kept on your machine forever.
Neither option is a silver bullet for DRM free games, even if way more are available on gog.
I agree to everything salve that once you license a game, even if it is taken out of the store, will still be available in your library.
In my case: Outrun 2006: coast to coast and Castle of Illusion (remake).
But they can take it away, if they want to. They just haven't done so yet. Unless you own DRM free installation media, you don't own a game. Steam has been relatively low on the enshittification scale so far, but there is no guarantee that this will never change. Once Gabe is out and the beancounters take over, it'll go the way of all corpos.
Technically yes, and probably if Gog did the same we would have time to download it before they removed it out of our libraries.
But I was thinking: what happens when we die.
The games will be transferred to the great SSD in the sky.
I'm going to go against the grain here and say I primarily buy from Steam. A lot of indie games don't require Steam to run to play them and for the games that do, it's not hard to bypass. I just like having everything in one spot where I can redownload to other devices when needed, and I can have cloud saves for bouncing between my PC and Steam Deck. Also, if I nuke my OS for a 3rd time this month (changing distros), I won't have to start over on the games I'm playing.
Heroic Games Launcher works on Steam Deck, and syncs your achievements and cloud saves to GoG. The biggest downside to GoG is it requires you to use the Windows/Proton versions of your games for cloud sync to work.
If you want to own the thing you purchase: gog
If you want to fund a billionaire super yacht and be subject to the whims of a large corporation run by a billionaire: steam
To me there's no contest but a lot of people on lemmy are corporate shills.
It's true that gog is better, but to completely misrepresent why people use steam is just disingenuous, it's a better service than practically any other one out there(aside from gog ofc)
I offered one potential motivation which is giving billionaires a yacht
Other people have already listed their own motivation, I'm not required to represent every single possible motivation
That's not the point, you're being intentionally disingenuous while not giving all the facts, specifically to prove your point. You don't have the paint the entire picture, but to imply that the only thing steam has to offer is giving money to a billionaire is bullshit and you know it.
If anyone genuinely thinks my message is the only reason you'd buy from steam.and hardcore refused to read any other comments besides mine... I really dgaf about them. It's like fox news always says, this is clearly for entertainment purposes only and only a fucking idiot would believe it.
You're again missing the point, and then you try backpedaling by saying you weren't actually being serious just to cover your bases. Jesus what an absolute twat you are.
Also, sometimes games on gog don't receive DLC or patch updates because the devs/publisher forget or don't care. I remember seeing an extensive list of games, ~250, explaining what they had missing. I think A Hat in Time was one of the worst offenders
Here's a gog forum post on the problem - https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gog_is_it_truly_more_difficult_for_developers_to_update_their_games_on_gog/page1
That seems worthy of being a top level response to the question
I don't buy AAA games, so YMMV, but I buy my games almost exclusively from GOG and Itch these days. I have loads of games on Steam, but now the DRM-free aspect is most important to me. If something is only on Steam, I may still buy it if I can confirm that it's "DRM-free" (e.g. bypassable Steam check) there, or if it's so cheap that I won't mind losing it. As honest as GabeN and the Steam team seem to be, I've been shafted enough times already.
The one drawback I see for buying on GOG vs buying on Steam (which can also be kind of an advantage depending on your perspective) is updates. Steam seems to let publishers push updates out whenever they want. While a few publishers do actually seem to forget about GOG, I have read comments from a few different developers (in response to complaints from customers) that they had sent their updates to GOG but were stuck in an approval process. It appears that the GOG team manually tests every update before putting it up for customers, and there's a large backlog for a small team, so it can be several months before a patch gets through.
In my experience this is the biggest knock against it, and it can be fatal for multiplayer games. I had to wait several days for a patch to get pushed to continue my Baldur's Gate 3 campaign with a friend because she'd picked it up on Steam. We eventually had her keep Steam offline.
Considering the condition games can be released in lately, it can really suck to wait in general, too.
I'm grateful for GoG's manual testing process. But the forums often full of users blaming GoG for treating them as second class citizens for always late at push out updates, without seeing their efforts. Sometimes it's indeed several months later than Steam, like Manor Lords. Sometimes developers do seems to abandon their GoG version altogether, like Hellish Quart. It sometimes feels like a vicious cycle to push users away.
The only black-and-white rule is: if you're buying an older game you should always buy it on GOG. No exceptions. There's too many retro games on Steam that won't even launch on modern machines, and beyond that GOG is typically very good at including fan made patches and fixes into their versions of old games, ensuring older games actually work and are just plug-and-play.
Not always true unfortunately. iirc saints row 2 was capped at 30fps on gog but not steam, and FEAR still installed the DRM software but was just patched to not use it. Don't know of any other cases like those tho
F.E.A.R. was eventually fixed. I'm pretty sure only the multiplayer.exe. still has DRM. I played it recently including the expansion and it was just fine.
My general policy is to buy stuff from GoG that I will likely want to replay in the future and prioritize Steam for anything that I primarily play with friends (as that's the main advantage of Steam for me). If it's neither, I'll default to GoG.
I would prefer gog but with the steam deck, I find compatibility more reliable on Steam. Additionally, Steam workshop games are also really convenient.
It's ok to use all the different stores.
Personally I use Steam for anything that has online functions and/or early access and GOG for everything else. Also I will buy direct from the developer (eg something like Software Inc) if I can but that option is getting harder to do.
I love gog for being able to download and own the game. I have about 10x more games there than steam. It’s a bit more hassle integrating them with the steam deck than steam is though.
I buy on gog if it’s available there. Because no DRM is a great thing for simplicity’s sake for me. With that said, the experience running gog games, even with Heroic, on SteamOS is rough. But so far that hasn’t been enough to change my behavior.
I prefer GOG because of the DRM-free option, and I like what they stand for. But, you're right, there are a few cases where you'd want the Steam version instead. I'd say ask the community around the game and see what they think. There are no cases I'm aware of where not having the Steam version would be a problem, but I don't play games like that.
GOG does a few things better than Steam, though. They fix stuff. Steam just pushes what the publisher gives them. Two cases, same franchise... same shitty developer. Fallout 3 shipped with DRM called GfWL (Games for Windows Live), basically Xbox Live for Windows. GfWL failed, but Bethesda didn't take it out of Fallout 3, meaning to play Fallout 3 on PC, even if you bought it legally, you had to crack the DRM, which is illegal in the US. No one got in trouble for doing so, but that's what you had to do. GOG just took the DRM out. Problem solved. Something like a decade after Bethesda created the problem by not taking it out themselves, they did just that — VERY recently, and thus, it became "legal" to play Fallout 3 on PC again. Second case, Fallout 4. Same developer/publisher. Different case. They put out a patch about a year, year and a half ago, and it broke the random NPC generator. There was a cursed combination of variables that could make up an NPC, that if it generated that set of variables, you could never get close to that NPC, or your game would crash. Modders quickly found the problem and told Bethesda how to fix it. They refused. More to the point, they ignored the issue. I don't think GOG carried that update for months. They refused it. You could only get the older, last working version for a while. I think they eventually allowed it, but with a note on it saying it was broken with no fix in the works. Couple weeks ago, they said they fixed it... after like 16 months. But introduced more problems. (Disclaimer of bias: I own Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 and all the official DLC on Xbox, Steam, and GOG. I used to be a big fan of Bethesda, but after Starfield... I am discovering way too late that it's not a tenth the game the Mass Effect trilogy was. Better late than never, I suppose?)
Honestly, it depends on you, what matters to you more.
For their stance on DRM free and game preservation, Id buy from/support GOG every day of the damn week.
Problem is, that I'm from a third world country, with recent and very high inflation. Dollar is way too expensive here. (With a gov tax on converting the local currency to dollar on top of that 🤮)
So the above + regional pricing means I'm stuck to Steam + piracy.
If budget is tight, I'd say, stick to Steam. Otherwise, go GOG
I used to prioritise GoG but now I just use Steam for the Linux support personally. If that's not important to you it mostly comes down to whether you mind the inconvenience of multiple stores.
Something like heroic or bottles fixes this issue and gives you more agency to play it your way.
Heroic keeping all your GOG games up-to-date is a revelation, and it can keep the GloriousEggroll proton fork up-to-date where Steam can use it too. Fixes the most serious irritations of GOG-on-Linux right there, no reason not to prefer it over Steam (if they have it).
I personally buy from GOG almost exclusively, but it really depends on you. If Steam features are important to you, use Steam. If what GOG's doing with DRM is important to you, buy from GOG.
Can't you continue buying games from both? And use Playnite or something? Or even just GOG Galaxy which has the ability to import your games from Steam and run them?
I prefer Gog. I don't need cloud sync, I just want to download the installer and start playing. I hate the idea of needing a really heavy launcher like steam to play my games. I play via Lutris on Linux. DRM-free is important to me as a principle. I also happen to prefer Gog's UI when shopping around. I keep steam around for games I bought before I made the full switch to Linux and the occasional game that is not available on Gog.
Whichever is cheaper.
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.