Gaming

Steam, but only because 95% of my library is on there. However, I think often GOG is probably the better choice.

Used to be GOG for DRM free games, now it's Steam because of Linux support and the Steam Deck

Used to be GoG but now Steam. I run Linux so it's nice to have a client that makes that easy rather than having to rely on a 3rd party one.

GOG. I like actually owning the games I buy

I'm on Linux, so if I buy from GOG, I don't get cloud saves or automatic updates. If we had Galaxy on Linux, it would be my default store. But it's not on Linux, so I shop on Steam.

When I used Windows I mainly bought on Gog for the DRM-free aspect. Now that I've switched to Linux almost completely, I find Steam's software for running Windows games on Linux to be just about the most seamless and easy to use, compared to other stuff I've tried like Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher.

Steam, because I would want to support the company that respects linux users.

Always GOG. While I've loved Steam for years and still do, I'd rather have a stronger ownership over my games.

Steam but mainly because I have a steam deck so ease of use.

Steam. I need higher Linux compatibility.

I'd go steam, they games probably drm free on both and steam has a Linux client and cloud saves and workshop

GOG. DRM-free support needs all the help it can get. I have nothing but respect for Steam, so it's my secondary choice. The only exception is if it's a game that's been out for a while and there's been discrepancies between GOG and Steam support (or a dev/publisher with a history of said issues), in which case I'll go with the one that's better supported.

Steam for a few reasons:

1. Ease of use with the Steam deck
2. Prices are often cheaper, albeit often through sites like Fanatical/ Humble
3. Synergizes with my only subscription, Humble Choice
4. There is a lot of content missing from games on GOG compared to Steam. Most of it is trivial, but sometimes it is substantial. It has created a rhetoric about GOG customers being treated as second class citizens. Google Sheets

I used to try to buy my games at GOG where there wasn't a significant financial difference. I liked what they were doing, especially with GOG Galaxy at the time. The pendulum swung back to Steam over time, and now I'm just not buying games any more.

I've learned my lesson to never buy again from any other than Steam.

Every other launcher except GOG Galaxy are pure trash. And about a year ago I switched to Linux, so now I only buy from Steam. They make gaming better for everyone, they know it's a win-win situation.

Honestly I'm so lazy and deep into the ecosystem now if if it's not on Steam I just won't play it. There's too many things to play, and I don't care enough to bother with multiple launchers and accounts

GoG if possible. I'm very slowly trying to buh more from GoG as insurance from the eventual enshitification that I sadly know Steam will fall prey to.

Usually GOG, but now that I’m slowly switching to Linux and finding out how hard it is to run some games from GOG, I’m looking to move back onto Steam for games I want on my Linux laptop.

At the moment I pretty much only buy games on Steam. GoG has been pretty hostile to Linux over the years, whereas Valve is the only gaming focused company that robustly supports Linux on both a hardware and software level. The money I give to their platform directly supports Linux gaming and everyone directly benefits from this.

Valve is also an exceptionally rare example of a privately owned, not publicly traded company of their size. Gabe Newell himself owns a majority stake and has shown that he is more interested in running a company that can make effective long term decisions than a company that desperately suckles at the teats of short term profits and corporatocracy. As long as this stays true, Valve is in a vastly better position to resist enshittification than most big tech companies out there. Valve doesn't need to pull a Red Hat unless fundamental things change, and Gabe seems pretty happy to be in a position where he doesn't need another layer of corporate overlords.

I'd definitely prefer to have DRM free stuff, but Steam is a pretty good compromise at the moment. If Valve ever goes to shit, I'll just take steps to access the games I own in a way that is independently well supported on Linux. I suspect there will be multiple ways to do so if it ever comes to this. Proton being open source counts for a lot.

I would 100% be buying things on GOG whenever possible -- if they had a Linux client.

Because they don't, the convenience of Steam and Proton integration generally offsets concerns I have about losing access to things if Steam ever goes under. It's a tradeoff.

GOG because it's more convenient and less ableist.

Steam's colour scheme makes it difficult to read and causes eye strain and headaches for people with astigmatism, like me. The way the light text bleeds into the darkness surrounding it makes it difficult to read anything so I can't be sure of the price that I'm paying without copy/pasting it into notepad or something. When I made a thread pointing this out years ago, when they disabled the old theme system, Valve's mods banned me from the forum and deleted my thread.

I sent an email to Epic Games about the same problem in their store and got a response that could be summarized as "Don't care, go fuck yourself." so they are not a good option either. I don't like gambling so I won't use EA's virtual casino, and I want to keep the games I buy so Ubisoft's store is also not an option.

It's GOG or piracy for me.

If I'm getting it on one of those platforms, it's to play it on my Steam Deck and it's more native to do it in Steam.

I also go GOG first. I like the whole DRM-free aspect.

GOG for DRM-free, unless there is a benefit to Steam. For example, Spelunky gets a daily challenge only on Steam.

Steam. It's better on Linux, and GOG isn't always DRM free anymore. Also, although most games do, Steam games don't actually have to use any DRM.

GOG for drm free. I'm always gutted when I buy on steam, but forget to check GOG and it's there.

GOG, because if you don't use GOG Galaxy (and you can as is not at all required and ALL games have offline installers) you never fire up a game and have to wait for Steam to update or are on vacations running it on a notebook with mobile paid data, forget to disable "cloud saves" or some stupid shit like that and run out of data.

Also GOG is 100% DRM free.

Oh, and did you know that Steam is about to switch off Windows 7 support?!

Why should games that work perfectly in older computers with Windows 7, bought and paid for because of supporting it, stop working because Valve wants to keep on controlling your usage of games you bought but doesn't want to spend money for even a basic launch clienf supporting that OS?

There is no such problem with GOG and there will never be if you download the offline installers for your games - as long as the machine works, the games will work, period.

Oh, and GOG goes out of their way yo support old games: it's in their name Good Old Games.

GOG is freedom, Steam is a golden chain.

Depends on thw game and what sort of mod support it has. Obviously on Steam if it has Steam workshop support. DRM free on GOG is good but at the same time Steam has been doing quite of lot of good things related to gaming on Linux and I would like them to continue doing it.

Considering pretty much all the legally obtained digital download games I have on PC come from Steam, I think it's safe to assume I'll just get the game I want from Steam.

Steam, because Valve guarantees to keep games playable even if they go out of business. Aaand I keep forgetting that GOG exists xD

If the price are equal then GOG, but it doesn't has local price and tend to be significantly more expensive than games on Steam.

I've got to say, Steam's native Wine/Proton implementation works decently well, and really entices me to buy games without native Linux support on Steam.

Steam because GOG does something to their games that makes most mods not work on them.

Gotta have my mods!

I only use GoG if it's the only option. Otherwise I'll use almost any other service if I can.