Steam vs GOG.com vs Humble Bundle?

[The Hand]

Which do you prefer or do you buy from all of them?

Offers from Humble Bundle such as Prison Architect for £6.79, will probably match the steam summer sale within a couple a of pence or so. Does the steam community/social network, market place, steam cards etc have an enduring appeal or will rivals such as Humble Bundle and GOG.com erode it over time? I get the feeling the appeal of steam is waning myself, but maybe that's just me.

[Ferral]

I have never really bothered to much with Humble Bundle unless the games on offer (Bundles) have what I want in them, the recent Nintendo one was good for example.

I do buy from GOG and Steam, I prefer getting the older stuff from GOG which unfortunately as of late has been a bit lacking and getting less and less. Steam is great for cheap stuff but at times there is a load of crap being peddled, Steam though is a must if you want new games (as is Origin and also Uplay). The good thing with GOG and the older stuff is that if you do have to modify files etc to get something running right (doesn't happen often) then that is just fine, Steam on the other hand unless you tell it to leave alone will revert any changes you make back to their latest build.

[Saracen]

Steam is a non-starter for me, for several reasons but centred around DRM. I'm not anti-DRM as such, but that type of implementation (including Origin, etc) is something I never have and never will accept. So, it doesn't matter what content they offer, or at what price, because I'm not signing up for Steam. I'm sure that puts me in a minority but, so be it.

Humble Bundle I've never really paid much attention to. I can't really say why, just that .... whenever I've looked there's been little to catch my eye. I think the concept is good, but I'm just ambivalent for reasons I struggle to identify.

GOG, however, suits me fine. Since I was first pointed at at (thanks, Ferral) I had a bit of a splurge, a bit like a kid with unexpected pocket mobey in a sweet shop) and maybe over-dosed. I'm still working my way through my back catalog, and since I don't spend that much time on games these days (except Sudoku or a good crossword, like the Telegraph) it's taking a fair old while.

And since the PC I use gor gaming probably wouldn't even run demanding games, like Doom, and I'm not about to buy a whole new PC just for games, and since I expect that situation to get progressively worse, I don't really pay mych attention to games releases.

Xbox kept me going for a while, but I'm at 360 stage and XBOne appeals to me about as much as Win10, which is a bit less than a dose of an antibiotic-resistant STD, I can't even get excited about gaming on that.

[jim]

I don't really use GOG, because I generally want Steam keys.

If it's really cheap, or old DOS games then I'll happily take GOG (e.g. Theme Hospital and Theme Park).

Humble Store is OK, but I rarely find it to be the cheapest option. The monthly bundle recently has been very good (Rocket League, South Park and Mad Max all guaranteed) but I doubt I'll keep going much longer. And if a bundle is available for $1 I'll often pick it up, as the Steam cards are usually worth more than I spent on the games!

[Pob255]

GOG is my first port of call, if they have a game I want I'll get it from there rather than steam every time.
However GOG is just old games and indy stuff, which is ok for me as that's mainly what I'm intrested in.
I like the DRM-free nature but more importantly I love the simple exe installers, the whole game goes into a folder where I want it to be, not squirreling away files in odd places.

I resisted steam for a long time however I finally gave in and I do use it for most new games, not that I buy or play a lot these days.

Humble bundle is a nice idea but I never keep up with it and when I do look at it I usely already have or am not intrested in the games, so I've never used it.

[kalniel]

Generally they're quite different markets for me - GOG is old school plus a select few games (which happen to be ones I like, like TW3 and D:OS), Humble is modern indie, Steam is more fully commercial.

Those aren't hard and fast rules, but they're how I use the services.

[Vorlon99]

I use all three and even BundleStars on occasion.

GOG is great for older games, DRM free, Cheap, and usually 'fixed' in a way that makes them run on the newer OS's without the user needing to do anything to get them running... I bought stuff like the complete Cossacks for example.

Humble Bundle operates in a couple of different ways and I have bought loads from them.
1. Large range of games at discounts, (much like Steam sales), which are usually provided as Steam Keys, and sometimes also comes with a separate downloadable version if its indie (often DRM free)
2. Humble Bundles. Charity fund raiser bundles. In the past I have bought EA/Origin bundles, Indie Bundles, Book Bundles, Android Bundles... usually loads of titles for a nominal fee to get the whole bundle. An EA bundle I bought had keys for Origin, but also gave an additional Steam key for *some* of the games. Likewise the Indie ones, sometimes DRM free DL + Steam Key + Android version... What I am trying to get at, is that sometimes the bundles value is more than it first seems, you can get extra copies to give away to friends & family, or use on additional devices.
3. Monthly Bundle. Great value in a literal sense of the cost of the games when bought individually, and certainly where the key title is one you really want, but it is totally random and you do get games you may not be interested in (pass them on)

Steam, well I use that a lot too, and have over 200 games in there, but a lot are from Bundles (Humble Bundles and some Bundle Stars) and the others were almost all bought when super cheap in Steam sales either individually or as a package offer. Very, very, few have been bought at higher prices.

Bundlestars is much like the others above, sometimes their deals are good, but they are rarely much better price wise, unless your lucky enough to find a bundle that fits your needs

[Domestic_Ginger]

I don't buy new releases; the story driven games i just watch a compilation of the cut scenes on youtube if they look appealing. cba playing any of these console ports.

I always keep an eye on humble bundles. I have quite enjoyed some of the comic ones too. So many games I have not played yet still. Ultimate general Gettysburg was quite good fun recently and getting a chance to get indie games I've never heard of before is a definate bonus. Lacking time/attention span and being so old I don't have any reflexes anymore makes the games fun without having the pressure of having to immerse myself and complete them due to the high price tag. Completed torchlight last week!

I don't tend to buy from steam or gog. Ebay and g2a seem to be much more competitive. I prefer steam codes for simplicity but the gog downloader is great. So will go for the cheapest.

[Big_Magazine]

I don't buy new releases;

I don't buy them either, I just wait one year or couple of months until they are like couple of pounds and complete them. I don't see any reason in spending £40 - £60 especially when you will get the same content later on but cheaper. You can also save that amount of money and spend the whole for like 20 - 30 games which you didn't played yet and costs just couple of pounds.

I don't tend to buy from steam or gog. Ebay and g2a seem to be much more competitive. I prefer steam codes for simplicity but the gog downloader is great. So will go for the cheapest.

I have never bought any games from GOG but I did on Steam and Humble Bundle. Easily saying, Steam is a nice place where you can store your games, need to re-install windows ? Who cares, you do the thing, download steam and re-download the games you had installed previously or just do a backup and restore them afterwards when you done with re-installing windows. Don't need any pesky CD/DVD's and spying SecuRoms and instead we are getting few simple and secure clicks which will grant you access to any games you had purchased.

Humble Bundle or Bundle Stars are good for so called "Weekend Players" who game a little bit but don't have a huge selection of games on steam or those who don't want to spend huge amount of money to play various computer games legally. The rest of the "non-weekend" gamers gets their games on the release date anyway.

Tho, I sometimes wonder what will happen if Steam is going to close down and everyone loses their games ? That's always the risk with digital platforms such as Origin or Steam.

When its coming to buying games for steam I also recommend this sites:

CDKeys
G2A
There is also a plugin only for Google Chrome which after you install and login to the steam store, it will show where you can find the cheapest key of the game you have selected, unfortunately I can't remember the name of it.

I also had a couple of more websites where you could enter the game title and it would list like 3 top legitimate providers of cd keys for the lowest prices but somehow I can't dig out the links for it.

[Ttaskmaster]

I use all of them, although there's not often that much that I want overall.

[AGTDenton]

Big fan of GoG for the classics. If No Mans Sky looks good on release I'd get the DRM free version from them.
GoG Galaxy makes life easier for installing games, but the great thing about it is that it is not essential. You can download the games independently of the Galaxy app. It's just a nice bonus for convenience. Still has work to do as its not quite polished but not a lot.
Biggest criticism of GoG is they don't have enough modern Indie games available, but it feels like the wind is changing for the better, albeit very slowly.

For purchasing more modern games I use a mixture of Instant Gaming, CDKeys, Humble Bundle & Indie Gala.
Unless a game is only available on Steam, Origin, UPlay then I'd purchase from them, but generally the price is so much higher vs. the afore mentioned.

[Galant]

One more for the list: GamersGate

[Jacob1]

I like the concept of GOG, but they only offer a few games I actually want.

[big_hairy_rob]

GOG for older titles, Steam for newer (and saleS), 'Umble only in the event of not already owning the majority of the games on that particular offer.
I'm kinda lucky that I avoid new releases due to the age of my PC, so ultimately end up saving by waiting for the sales (plus I have no shortage of sale bought games to play).

[shaithis]

I am at the point where I just don't care which platform it is on, other than multiplayer titles where I want to ensure friends can game together....

For me it's a case of head to www.allkeyshop.com and search all the stores and sellers for the cheapest price....plus the occasional humble bundle....