Why do PC Gamers Prefer their Games to be on Steam

[00slash00]

They don't. Some people do. Notice the quantifier and notice the label. You should have also addressed your question to the people you described before, if you really want a meaningful answer. ...or, you know "an answer" since, I doubt it'd make much sense, much less have "a meaning".

im not really sure what youre trying to say. are you choosing to pick at the fact that i said most pc gamers? alright, you got me. i have not polled the world population of pc gamers so i cannot said for certain that most pc gamers prefer steam. i just figured people would be able to infer that i was talking about most people ive encountered either in real life or through internet discussions. my sincere apologies if my use of the term most, upset you in some way.

as for the examples i used...in wowcrendors videos on video gamer developer tycoon, someone commented that they pirated the game but only because it isnt on steam. earlier today i was looking at gamer reviews of, Of Orcs and Men, and someone said that he or she "Wasted $30" because they bought the game from Green Man Gaming and werent aware that it didnt run through steam

 

[Sack of Cheese]

It has a chat engine! That's pretty much the reason for me since most of my PC friends have it. Sometimes I like to chat while playing slow-paced games.
Other than that I don't really mind if it's on Origin, Live or uPlay. I'm past the point of impulsively hoarding cheap games.

 

[zumbledum]

the auto patching , the cross game friends lists, the workshop, matchmaking , and of cause buying everything for 50-80% off is why i prefer steam. also its a natural monopoly in that i only want 1 service doing this so everything is in one place. then theres teh lack of competition, gog is great and i use them but it doesnt do the same thing, origin does but its origin so i avoid it like the plague.

i prefer digital over physical simply because it lasts longer , is portable and doesnt clutter up my house, im just not a tidy person by nature physical disks get scratched or lost around me so digital is great for me, no more buying a ame two or three times because ive lost the disk

 

[Easton Dark]

I like having all my games in one program I can open.

Also, verifying integrity of the game cache is a life saver for me, I love to mess around with game files.

 

[Auron]

I like all my games on my digital platforms and will not buy physical copies, in the last couple of years I've used Steam, Origin(after some resistance.) and GoG.

The reasons are pretty simple and have been stated already.

the auto patching , the cross game friends lists, the workshop, matchmaking , and of cause buying everything for 50-80% off is why i prefer steam. also its a natural monopoly in that i only want 1 service doing this so everything is in one place. then theres teh lack of competition, gog is great and i use them but it doesnt do the same thing, origin does but its origin so i avoid it like the plague.

Other than actually liking Origin, I agree on everything he said. Never having to manually download a patch again and even not having to manually install mods on some(very few still but it's growing.) games is great. And then there's the fact the seasonal sales have bred undying loyalty in most of us, and while I do use Origin all the games I bought for it came from Steam or Amazon* , it's just now starting to give us decent sales.


*They redeem any key, in fact even old ones on different formats the support will convert once you send them a picture of the manual really nice actually.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Apart from the insanely good prices, all your games are collected into one place and automatically organised for you. All your games are alphabetically listed, updated automatically, DLC for them is collected into an easy to access list etc. All of your friends who played games are organised, you can see what they are playing, what games they own, and chat with them while playing games.

Steam is basically a hub for playing games through, it offers many conveniences without ever really getting in your way. This coupled with the consistently great prices is why Steam is so popular.

 

[bluepotatosack]

I haven't really found that to be true. Personally, I like Steam and find it unobtrusive, but if given the choice between buying a game through it or somewhere else that doesn't add DRM? I'll take the non-DRM option every time.

 

[Signa]

It has a lot to do with the organization of the games in one pretty little list, as well as other perks like in-game chat and play length tracking. Before Steam, I used to make shortcuts to all my installed games, and make a separate taskbar for all of them to auto-hide on the left of my screen. Windows 7 does not allow this, so Steam has taken its place. It's gotten to the point that I forget that I have certain games installed if they aren't on that list. It's important to me now.

But you can blame the sales too, because that also is true.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

It is mostly about convenience to me. As others have said it integrates a chat function with an easy to use games library and has some pretty sweet sales. The kicker for me though is that it is quick and easy to install a game and games are automatically patched and kept up to date.

 

[TehCookie]

Well, I'm the opposite. I hate Steam. The only reason I even have it is because certain games (Mount & Blade, Skyrim) require it to run. I buy all my games retail and would much rather just install them normally and play them normally without Steam. The reasons for this, is my dislike of purchasing digital media. I buy physical albums, I buy physical books and I buy physical video games. Something about spending real money on flimsy digital files rubs me up the wrong way, so I don't do that. It also doesn't help when Steam broke my Skyrim for downloading a patch without me asking for it (even when I told it not to update automatically).

Furthermore, if my internet was to go down (I live in a rural area, so it's possible), then I wouldn't be able to play the games I should otherwise be able to play.

So yeah, I'm a PC gamer that does not like Steam. Simple as that.

Are you me? You even had the same issues with Skyrim, it's so uncanny.

I'm against any form of DRM, Steam included so I have no idea why gamers want that. [sub][sub]*grumble* Back in my day you could install a game on as many computers as you want and even play them at the same time. *grumble*[/sub][/sub]

 

[Skeleon]

I don't know. I'm a PC gamer and I hate Steam. I only use it for games that are impossible to buy otherwise, like Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition. I prefer DRM-free services like GOG that don't require me to run third-party software while playing. I dunno why people are so happy to have a DRM- and advertisement-platform shoved in their faces every time they start up a game. Some folks say it's because of the patches, i. e. Steam synchronizes your games automatically with the newest version. But it's not like patching a game is that difficult and I certainly consider it much more disadvantageous than beneficial to have it.

 

[maxben]

First, I prefer digital games for the following reasons.
1. Digital is much more convenient than buying discs.
2. No sales tax.

So you think that a service that can wipe all your games if it a) shuts down or b) you refuse some draconian change to its ToS is more convenient? I think you are not looking long term.

As for the second point, its always interesting how people who are so against pirating from corporations are very much ok sidestepping their duty to pay taxes as a citizen in a modern society. Do you know the kinds of social services that sales tax provides? That's why I am so happy at current attempts to change US law so online retailers MUST pay taxes. Short term thinking again.

 

[Easton Dark]

Didn't we use Desktop icons for that? Or am I just an old woman who can't get with the times?

I guess, if you like the cluttered mess that is hundreds of desktop icons, you can keep them.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Because it's a useful centralised service that automatically updates your games, has cloudsaves, and good community features.

Why would I not want to buy games on steam? It definitely doesn't go as far as you seem to think it does, though. If I'm buying a game I'll try to get it on steam, but if it isn't I'll still buy it as long as it's not on a competing service. And that's only because I don't want to have to make and manage more accounts than I already do. I'm perfectly fine with buying regular-ass retail copies.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Because I used to pirate games, movies and music; Then steam came along and said, "Hey, you know that game you want? It's only $5. Now it's also because I have 60+ games and it would be hard to keep track of them without steam.

For the record I don't pirate anything anymore. I've not for three years.