We used to have to wander into one of a handful of game stores and hope their PC section was remotely decent. Not any more. Whether it’s Green Man Gaming, Instant Gaming, Fanatical, or just plain old Steam, there’s an absolute wealth of options for PC gamers looking to score bargains. While the likes of the PS4 have a fixed price for digital, we’re able to shop around and stores are allowed to, well, compete.
Myself I’m a bit of a CDkeys fanboy. They haven’t let me down yet, even if I am slightly suspicious of how these games can be so damned cheap sometimes. They don’t always offer the best deals but they’re particularly great for early pre-orders. Oftentimes they charge about £25 for an upcoming AAA game, which isn’t bad at all. At the time of writing, Fallout 76 is going for £14. It’s a bad game but a cheap price.
Nuuvem was also a Brazilian haven for a while but then publishers probably started throwing their weight around and the keys became region-locked. For a few months a couple of years ago though, the big AAA gamers could be bought for £10-15 at launch, compared to £50 on Steam.
Then there’s also the slightly seedier places. We’re talking the likes of G2A and Kinguin. They’ll claim their legitimate but any store that offers paid insurance with your purchase in case your CD key doesn’t even work is clearly treading a murky line. But the option is still there if you can stomach funding this sort of behaviour. Whatever’s cheapest I guess.
It’s a tricky world out there though, so we're keen for everyone to share which stores they use, which they trust, and whether any have wronged them over the years. Let us know which digital stores are your go-to for PC games!
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Where the fcuk is origin?
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Steam is my main source/library of games, but I've also spent some change on G2A. Good site, no complaints, but I've only bought games worth $3-8 there. I'll also check CDkeys in case I want some alternative.
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Also I just noticed, why the hell isn't GOG there, their store is great too. You can get ton of old games made/fixed to work on Windows 10 and 64bit systems. It is best source for games without DRM. And they are getting ton of new games too.
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Sure, DRM loving AAA industry doesn't put games there. But it still has ton of newer games. So I don't think it should be dismissed that quickly.
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GOG
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CDKeys, Instang Gaming and Steam.
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gog
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I wonder if all those people who voted for Steam realize that they can buy the exact same games (in the form of a steam key) for around 50% of the price.
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Still. Better safe than sorry. I'm purchasing from other internet shops and before I buy I do a lot of research for the website so to not be sorry later.
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but the problem comes when we are dealing with currencies other than USD. Only steam and g2a currently support the currency of my country and the games are still cheaper on Steam on sales.
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Well in my country we have no eur or usd so its the same. When I purchase something online i'm looking at some online converter and put my money in my currency and buying the game. It's simple as that. I'm using steam, cdkeyhouse, origin, etc... they have euro currency and others. And I don't have any problem with it.
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ebay
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Only recently found out I couldn't buy a gift on steam and put it in my inventory anymore. Now favorite is split between GOG and HumbleBundle for the freedom of what I do with my games.
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You should try box copies. They will blow your mind.
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I think this is just till the winter sale lasts. After that, we can add gifts to our inventory like we normally do
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Steam, of course, I mean there is little in terms of competition. I otherwise like GOG too, they are great and especially with old titles and they got better. I also love idea of Humble Store with their bundles, where you buy games and give to charity. As reseller I like Instant Gaming, never had any issue with them.
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Steam FTW with 75% of discount ofc :D.
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G2A, CD-keys and CJS CD keys is what I've used and neither has ever given me problems, it seems that instant gaming is popular too, might give it a try if their prices are right XD
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I don't use any of the ones listed so I selected other cause I use a website store called GamingDragons.com and only really buy from steam if there is a really nice sale going on.
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thanks for sharing different stores, never knew some of them even existed.
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In France, Instant Gaming is clearly the most used digital store. You can get the key just after the payment, it's very fast and safe.
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G2A or Kinguin sometimes offer non-legitimate or stolen keys. it's basically an Ebay for games.
i prefer CDkeys or something similar to that, since they handle it all themselves. and are more genuine. a good way to buy a game much cheaper, but without illegally downloading it :)
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G2A is also one of the more expensive options if you use comparison sites
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GOG and Steam.
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May our Lard Gaben bless us all!
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Greenman Gaming. Usually so much cheaper than Steam, activates on Steam anyway and never had any problems.
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I bought kingdom come with all dlcs for 45usd, while my currency is eur so it was a crazy deal!
Ggg reminded me-you watch worth a buy?? ;D
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