Steam is one of the most popular services for buying PC games. Its large library and the possibility of acquiring them very cheaply in stores such as G2A or Instant Gaming make it the preferred option for most users. But as that one would say, there is life beyond Steam . In fact, there are many games that can only be played through its specific platform.
Although Valve's platform is great, we are not going to discover it now, why not try other platforms or systems? For a few days there has been a lot of talk about the Epic Games store, since, apparently, it will have some exclusive games. But this is only one of the platforms that compete with Steam. So let's do a little review of the best alternatives to Steam to play on PC . Who knows, maybe you will find a platform that you like the most or that has the cheapest games.
Origin
It is very likely that Origin already knows almost everyone, since it is the platform that is used for EA games . The truth is that this platform has gone from being a necessary evil to play games like FIFA or Battlefield, to being a game store that is not bad at all.
Generally it is more expensive than others like Steam, but sometimes it has quite interesting offers. In addition, in it we can not only find EA games , also some such as the Assassin's Creed or Batman series.
And most importantly, we have the ability to subscribe to Origin Access Premier . This subscription gives us access to a large catalog of games and even to be the first to play the company's news.
Itch.io
Itch.io is an indie game platform that has hundreds of titles from all genres . Its catalog is made up of games that have not yet emerged and gone to other platforms. Even for titles that have not yet become a commercial product.
So much so that many of the games are free . The developers just ask you to test them and give feedback so they can improve them. Of course, they also accept possible donations to help them continue with the development of the game.
The app works great and keeps games up to date. In addition, it has a strong social component , perhaps very oriented to lovers of programming and game development.
Epic Games Store
We talked about her before. At the moment the Epic Games store has practically no titles, but be careful because we must take it into account. First because it is the platform of the creators of Fortnite , one of the most successful games in recent years.
And secondly, because they have taken advantage of the large user base they have to get the exclusivity of some important titles that are yet to come, such as Metro Exodus. Of course, at the moment the service is in its infancy and it still does not work too well. But don't lose track of her because she can become one of the greats.
Uplay
Uplay is Ubisoft's gaming platform . The truth is that it does not have a very good reputation, since the company has made a little strange decisions. For example, you can't run a Ubisoft game purchased on Steam without going through Uplay, which means you need two apps in order to launch the game.
Leaving these "particularities" aside, we are facing a more than decent platform. It has the usual functions, such as cloud saving, search function or friend list .
But perhaps its greatest strength is that it has in its catalog with titles as powerful as Far Cry, Assassin's Creed or the Rainbow Six saga . Also, from time to time, we may download free games for a limited time. For example, I got the For Honor game totally free.
Microsoft Store
Microsoft has one of the most complete game stores on the market . In addition to including its exclusive titles, such as Forza Horizon or Gears Of War , it has most of the news.
It also offers us the Xbox Game Pass subscription service . This service is currently only available for Xbox One, although PC gamers can take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere. It is a functionality that allows you to play the news on any platform. That is, we can buy an Xbox One game and play the PC version for free, if it exists of course. In addition, Microsoft itself announced a few months ago that the full Xbox Game Pass service will also come to PC.
GOG Galaxy
We finished our selection of alternatives to Steam to play on PC with GOG Galaxy . GOG is a well-known digital game store . It has an application called GOG Galaxy that, through a very neat interface, allows us to have our library of games, updates, etc. at hand.
In addition GOG has a peculiarity. And is that everything you buy in their store is DRM free . That is, you can download the game and save it to a hard drive, burn it to a DVD, or do whatever you want with it. Although it started as a platform dedicated to reviving old games and making them work on modern computers, it currently has new games in its catalog as well.
And so far our small selection of the best alternatives to Steam to play on PC . As you have seen, PC games are not only limited to Steam, we have many other options. What platforms have you already tried to play with your computer?