- Many PC gamers are against a hypothetical physical games store on Steam and prefer digital copies.
- Frequent Steam sales and competition with other stores remove the need for discs, unlike Sony’s case.
- Instead, gamers want DRM-free digital copies of games on Steam and other digital alternatives for preservation.
After Sony’s reveal to abandon physical editions of first-party titles in 2028, there are fears that many publishers will also go digital-only from 2027. Console gamers are in an uproar over the announcement, as digital games are mere licenses that can be revoked anytime.
However, the discourse appears to be much different among PC gamers. As per a popular online discussion, many PC users are actually against a hypothetical physical games store on Steam. A majority of them prefer digital copies instead.
Why it matters: PC gamers prefer digital alternatives more since Steam’s frequent sales and DRM-free platforms like GOG somewhat remove concerns about unfair pricing and preservation.
If Steam opened up a system where you could buy physical copies of your games, would you buy them?
byu/Thund3rWolf27 inSteam
The idea of a physical games Steam store was floated around in an r/Steam Reddit post but rejected by many users, as PC stores negate some of the biggest concerns console players have about digital titles.
For example, Steam enjoys great game sales multiple times yearly, so many titles can be bought for a fraction of their price. Thus, a lack of physical game reselling is not much of a concern to PC gamers.
Valve’s store also competes with Epic Games and GOG, even if Steam is more dominant of the three.
You can also install Steam on an external drive and keep digital games there. Plugging the drive into another PC also lets you play those titles—provided your account is authenticated online at least once after a fresh OS install. Although there are obvious limitations.
In comparison, the PlayStation Store doesn’t have frequent game sales. There are also concerns about Sony monopolizing digital game pricing once it goes disc-free since there’s no competition. Game preservation is also a big point of contention for console users.
On the other side, alternatives like GOG provide DRM-free installations to PC gamers, which helps with game preservation digitally.
Do you think Valve should have a physical Steam games market to win over a minority of gamers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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