Physical Media in 5 years (an ancient memory)

[u/Virasman]

[u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

[u/ArmoredAmogus → u/[deleted]]

hold on a minute

[u/Boner_Elemental → u/ArmoredAmogus]

Tzeentch or Genestealer, pick your cult

[u/Bear_of_Light → u/Boner_Elemental]

Tzeentch

[u/Brief-Artist-2772 → u/[deleted]]

[u/jpvieux → u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

Lmao thank you. Steam started the death of physical media decades ago

[u/Detvan_SK → u/jpvieux]

To be fair. Steam never blocked physical media.

[u/The_MAZZTer → u/Detvan_SK]

If you want physical media for offline gaming, having a game through Steam (some physical releases are like this) makes it impossible. You have to go online to activate and install.

So it also sucks for game preservation purposes where you can't be sure you can still play the game years down the line.

I love Steam digital distributon but there are some good points there that are concerning.

[u/Detvan_SK → u/The_MAZZTer]

If you are after that, start using GOG.

[u/LaikaIvanova → u/Detvan_SK]

GOG is great. I wish more publishers would support it.

[u/Born_European_V → u/The_MAZZTer]

In defense of steam. You can still play Counterstrike 1.6 and HalfLife one and so on. Its usually publishers on steam that pull the Plug. UBI amd EA have this habbit way worse with thwir ow  games.

[u/xXDamonLordXx → u/Born_European_V]

It's mostly a fault of the copyright system and big publishers. It's why GoG doesn't have as many games because a lot of companies simply don't want to remove the DRM.

[u/redit_handoff140 → u/The_MAZZTer]

Steam != PC

Just like Playstation Store != Playstation, you can buy games elsewhere (for now).

The point is PC actually offers choice, due to being an open eco-system. DRM-Free games on GOG, other stores, or heck, just pirate it if you've bought the game elsewhere.

[u/fafarex → u/redit_handoff140]

Just like Playstation Store != Playstation, you can buy games elsewhere (for now).

Buying elsewhere key that you activate on the playstation store is still buying on the playstation store in the end.

[u/fafarex → u/The_MAZZTer]

It does not stop dev to provide DRM free versions , they just don't want to.

[u/plasticarmyman → u/Detvan_SK]

I want to argue but you're technically correct, the best kind of correct.

[u/oompaloompa465 → u/jpvieux]

to be fair, game assets became too big because of high resolution and also the scummy urge by publisher to release the game in such a bad state that in the first 2 months the game gets so many patches that it gets effectlively completely redownloaded multiple times

[u/Epyon1542 → u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

Like this is a wild thing for the Steam sub to post.

[u/Rakdospriest → u/Epyon1542]

Steam sub and PCMR are just circlejerk subs. and not in the cringe humor sort of way.

[u/Elegant_Situation285 → u/Epyon1542]

the cognitive dissonance is pretty on point. "My favorite DRM is better than your DRM!" is quite the argument to make.

[u/Warrior_of_Massalia → u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

Exactly, notably the steam machine has 0 disc drive

[u/Majestic_Bierd → u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

This is the single best use of a meme I have seen in the past month

[u/Key-Cry-8570 → u/RandomGuyWithSixEyes]

[u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

This is an odd comparison since steam is the definition of ‘no physical media’.

[u/A_random_poster04 → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

I think it’s more like: “physical discs were the one thing consoles had over Steam, and they’re throwing that away”?

Or at least that’s the sentiment I’ve seen floating around as of recently

[u/Newtsaet → u/A_random_poster04]

Yeah definitely. I was a PC players for years before moving to console when I realized I could borrow games from the library or secondhand, physical was the main advantage over Steam. I guess i’ll be returning to steam soon

[u/morchorchorman → u/Newtsaet]

Yeah lowkey not many people know this but you can rent dvds, audio books, and games from your local library.

[u/Newtsaet → u/morchorchorman]

yup that’s how I play most of my games! and recent ones too. I’m completing Pragmata at the moment thanks to the library.

[u/DarkSoulsOfCinder → u/morchorchorman]

People don't take advantage enough! You can even 3d print stuff or rent other tech or tools

[u/morchorchorman → u/DarkSoulsOfCinder]

Now this I didn’t know.

[u/bivuki → u/morchorchorman]

Depends on the funding of your local library, but it seems to be (relatively) more common in the US nowadays. You should visit yours!

[u/Zooshooter → u/morchorchorman]

Cameras sometimes have this little plastic pocket that holds a flap off the cardboard film box. It's very handy for reminding yourself if there's film in the camera and what type it is. I couldn't find them for sale for a reasonable price but a local library printed them for me for 10 cents/gram of finished product. I had 10 made for like....a buck fifty? and I can resell the ones I didn't use to make back 5 times what I spent on all ten, per piece....it's insane.

[u/Amazing-War3760 → u/morchorchorman]

If your local library has any of them to rent to begin with.

[u/Ok-Suggestion-7702 → u/Amazing-War3760]

You can almost certainly rent at least some of the stuff mentioned from almost any local library. I grew up in a small town (9k people, 16k people in the entire county), and even the library there had movies and board games for rent over a decade ago. No clue if they’ve added stuff since then. A lot of small libraries also use Libby which allows patrons to rent audiobooks and ebooks. Definitely recommend people get library cards still.

[u/HikariRisesAgain → u/Ok-Suggestion-7702]

Everyone, myself included, should take advantage of libraries far more than we do, they're just massive repositories of publicly accessible media that exist for the sake of making media publicly accessible, it's on the level of a fire department in the way it exists exclusively for public good.

[u/Ok-Suggestion-7702 → u/HikariRisesAgain]

Yup! I absolutely love that most I’ve been to have Libby now. I have a library card for basically everywhere I lived, and it’s very rare there’s I book I want to read that I can’t checkout or put on hold on Libby. There’s also larger libraries like where I live now that will rent you laptops, internet hotspots, headphones, etc. I had a virtual interview the same day my floors were being redone (carpet so a lot of hammering sounds), and a library was able to set me up in a meeting room the same day.

[u/Mirraz27-study → u/Newtsaet]

Might be useful for you to know, Steam also has family library sharing nowadays. That way you can share your games with your family (wink wink). Anyone can use any copy from the shared library (as long as it's not currently being used by someone else). And if you bought multiple copies, then multiple people can access the same game.

[u/dowsyn → u/Mirraz27-study]

I hate with my son and daughter (20 & 17), we can all play 600+ games and it keeps growing, especially with my lad having more disposable income than I've had since he came along 🫩

Edit: Share! Tf?

[u/xclame → u/dowsyn]

Dang man, I know kids can be annoying sometimes, but you don't have to hate them.

[u/Blaze666x → u/Newtsaet]

Steam summer sales make a huge difference that and game sharing on steam is functionally the same as it was on ps4 on steam but you can share with more people (up to 6 i think) For the first several years of owning a pc all I did was spend like 30 bucks at a summer sale and buy like 6 old games xD

[u/QTGavira → u/Blaze666x]

Steam users are in a perpetual “This sale fucking sucks” and “atleast we have good sales” state and its quite funny to see

[u/BEWMarth → u/A_random_poster04]

Before: I buy digital games on Steam and physical games for my PS5. What a nice system.

After: I buy digital games on Steam and…. Also… buy digital games on this entirely seperate system that I use less…. Hmmm.

[u/Trzlog → u/BEWMarth]

Same here. No point in buying new games on console if I can only get it digital.

[u/cwx149 → u/A_random_poster04]

The other thing was ease of access/price but with the PS5 pro being $899 the odds the ps6 is under 1k are so low as to be practically non-existent

[u/Blaze666x → u/cwx149]

Yea at this point thw difference between a ps5 pro and a equivalent pc is only a few hundred edit: for reference when im saying a few hundred im talking like $500-$700 (so essentially the price of two ps5s) more but it will also be relevant far longer then a console let alone one that is midway through its lifestyle

[u/kevihaa → u/Blaze666x]

It’s…not. You might want to put your current PC in PC part picker and realize that it costs more than a Pro…

…before you factor in the cost of the GPU.

[u/dhalloffame → u/kevihaa]

PlayStation prices went up cause of market conditions but some people here think those some market conditions just magically don’t exist for parts going into a pc instead

[u/gunell_ → u/cwx149]

Wow is this sarcasm or does Valve fans have Alzheimer’s? Remember 2 weeks ago when they launched the very weak Steam Machine for 50$ more than a PS Pro? Or realize that a system with similar specs to a Pro costs even more?

[u/Comfortable-Meeper → u/A_random_poster04]

Literally only bought a ps5 for physical media… might have to look even farther back now.

[u/Aqua_Puddles → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

Yeah but the tradeoffs have always been there. No physical media but usually there's good deals / sales. There's also steam family sharing, a generous refund window, and free multiplayer. The service was built from the ground up to be digital.

[u/NoNefariousness2144 → u/[deleted]]

And the PS Store has a crap refund policy compared to Steam’s very fair policy.

[u/Val_Hallen → u/NoNefariousness2144]

Not to mention that Sony just deleted a whole bunch of stuff people bought because licenses expired.

Sure, that can happen on Steam, but you also have an alternative on the PC to get that same thing. With the PS, you're just shit outta luck.

[u/rattyhandpuppet → u/Aqua_Puddles]

And this is why Steam has been praised for years. It understands that you wont own the game outright, but at $2.99 on a summer sale, it matters way less, especially with family sharing and easy refunds and all the player-centric things Steam has on offer. A digital only console future is only coming about because they are bleeding money from years of bad decisions, and will be incredibly locked down to keep profits as high as possible. Playstation and Xbox are just digging their own graves and paving the way for Nintendo to be the last console standing.

[u/WholesomeHomie → u/Aqua_Puddles]

also, the chance that Steam randomly decides to wipe your digital purchases from the face of the earth are rather slim, whereas Sony has done exactly that…

[u/SelloutRealBig → u/WholesomeHomie]

Even if steam wipes your library there is always pirating to get back what you once owned. On PS6 there will be no option.

[u/bigguynak → u/Aqua_Puddles]

Steams refund policy is the biggest deciding factor for me. I know if I buy a game and immediately bounce off it, I can get my money back. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and just about everyone else with a digital storefront say "Screw you, got mine!". Sure you can maybe contact customer support and have them grant an exception, but compared to Steams refund process, its not even close.

[u/Adohleas → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

The fact that Sony removed over 500 movies from the libraries of people who bought them really doesn't help their image. On steam the few games that I have that were delisted I can download still and play, and I heard movies that are now longer purchasable are still watchable on steam. Excluding the rare exceptions like The Crew as well as a few bad actors that included viruses in their game, nearly all games that get delisted are playable not counting those always online games.

[u/ArgensimiaReloaded → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

True, but even in the worst case scenario Steam isn't leaving you with a ~$1k brick

[u/lemonylol → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

Just farming the karma wave. There's a reason they have a hidden account with 400,000 post karma to just 40,000 comment karma, and have not participated in the comments whatsoever.

[u/Ok_Confusion4764 → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

I still remember November 8th, 2011. I got my copy of Skyrim 3 whole days early. I installed it from the CD on my PC, clicked play, and Steam pushed me back saying "this game is not out yet". 

[u/akbarock → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

This is just like when this sub posted and massively upvoted pictures of playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo shooting themselves in the face with a shutgun after console price increases. Just for Valve to release the Steam Machine at over $1000 with 512Gb and no controller while being weaker than a base PS5.

The hypocrisy of Steam/PC glazers needs to be studied tbh

[u/brick_gnarlson → u/akbarock]

This subreddit has some of the dumbest people on this website.

[u/The_MAZZTer → u/akbarock]

Well if they thought Valve wasn't going to be impacted by the price increases I'd agree that's pretty dumb.

But I think most people realized it was inevitable.

[u/xsparklingwater → u/akbarock]

Gamers are stupid

[u/Aluwolf- → u/akbarock]

You don't need to buy it to use steam. Not really onto anything there.

[u/sciencesold → u/akbarock]

It's almost like you aren't required to buy a steam machine to play steam games....

[u/werido_meg → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

But for a lot of people the main advantage of using console over steam was the physical media…

[u/Lost-Produce-1150 → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

Right but PCs... they have a way of allowing you to store games locally 100% offline. So ironically I have more games stored locally for PC than I do for even consoles. It's a little bit apples to oranges.

[u/enchiladasundae → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

Physical media is great but we all came to Steam with the foreknowledge it was digital only. Like it’d definitely be great to have physical media but that’s like going to current Netflix and wondering where the DVD rentals are

And to be even more specific. Part of the benefit to consoles were the physical media. With a few exceptions I can just use emulators for these games. I wanted a console for the physical media. Even moreso its that recent news about Sony removing movies people already purchased and giving no refunds so they absolutely will do this for games when there’s no physical option anymore

[u/AbyssWankerArtorias → u/TheKrakenUnleashed]

PC has always been an open ecosystem, so valve never had the "decision" authority to do such a thing. You actually could load physical media into your steam library. I did it for borderlands. Bought the PC disc, loaded it into my steam library. (That being said it was Key bound so it was no different than a digital download really - I can't lend the game to someone). But Sony and Xbox have complete control of their ecosystems, so they have to take the full blame for the decision to not support physical media, where as valve is there to let you have steam on your PC if you want, but that's really it.

[u/SoCpunk90]

I'm all for physical media still being an important element of gaming, but how are we as Steam users any better? Our libraries are also digital.

[u/Oblachko_O → u/SoCpunk90]

I think it is opposite. Consoles have disks, so they can sell libraries to gamers. By removing disks they are going to a field where Steam is dominating. In short, they shoot themselves in the foot and steam is like <insert wtf guy meme>

[u/SoCpunk90 → u/Oblachko_O]

Right, I get that point, but it's not like we are collectors of physical gaming media ourselves. That's more what I'm getting at. It seems hypocritical of us to criticize Sony and Xbox of doing the same thing we do.

[u/DasGanon → u/SoCpunk90]

I will criticize it in a Steam vs other digital storefronts thing:

When it's removed from sale on steam, it's still in your library most of the time.

Like I have the original Metro games (no longer for sale), Spec Ops the Line (no longer for sale) other folks have "The Movies" (no longer for sale) and others have "Prey 2006" (no longer for sale)

I'm sure there's exceptions for that, and it does nothing for servers being offline so you can't actually do anything with it, but on the whole, you buy it, you own it.

[u/SoCpunk90 → u/DasGanon]

Valid point. The fact that Sony and Microsoft can literally remove things you've already purchased from your system is disgusting.

[u/Crafty_Boy70 → u/SoCpunk90]

Pretty sure Steam can do that too

[u/SubstituteCS → u/Crafty_Boy70]

Steam can’t find and delete any offline backups you make. The option doesn’t exist on console.

[u/Crazy_Reputation3327 → u/DasGanon]

I actually still have Rocket League. It's in my library

[u/Ecmelt → u/DasGanon]

Also Steam is a single store. You use it anywhere.

PS2 has no store, it was purely physical.

PS3 has a "legacy" store which is restricted in many ways.

PS4 and PS5 share the latest stores. PSN account wallet and your digital library is shared with PS4 and PS5.

PS6 might join 4-5 stores. They might put 4 into legacy mode later.. who knows.

I don't like each generation has its own store.. basically.

[u/TR_Pix → u/DasGanon]

The fact your point needs to have the addendum "most of the time" right of the bat take a lot of momentum from the argument

[u/DasGanon → u/TR_Pix]

You're right but I also don't have any citations for it happening. It probably does because that's a publisher decision but I haven't heard of it happening, just online servers going offline

[u/Sufficient_Risk_8127 → u/DasGanon]

plus, you can copy the files. you know, the actual fucking game you paid money for?

[u/mrloko120 → u/Oblachko_O]

They've been in that field for years now. 85% of all playstation game sales are digital, 91% for xbox.

[u/jackofslayers → u/SoCpunk90]

Steam is literally the industry pioneer of entirely digital.

[u/Cyber_Akuma → u/SoCpunk90]

Consoles are not comparable to PCs, they are locked-down devices with a single official storefront you can buy from.

Basically, imagine if the ONLY place you could purchase games for PC, or even download software at all, was from the Microsoft Store. And you was not allowed to access the BIOS, your SSD was encrypted with you not being given the key, and it basically booted into the equivalent of Steam Big Picture mode with no option to exit and go to the desktop. That's basically what would make it a comparable expirence.

[u/7StarSailor → u/SoCpunk90]

I'm a PC gamer.

I ackknowledge that consoles typically having physical media is a plus that they have over PCs.

I can also say that sony is shooting themselves in the foot by getting rid of an advantage they had over PCs.

Consoles slowly getting rid of the few redeeming qualities they still have...

[u/-Captain- → u/SoCpunk90]

For the sea of indies on PC it makes sense to be digital. But there's no reason we couldn't still have physical on PC. We did, even on this very platform. Putting something in your digital store basket will never be the same as getting that once in a blue moon game on release night in a store.

It's without a doubt a shame we lost that. And it's a shame they're taking steps in a digital only world for the console scene too.

[u/MakesMyHeadHurt → u/-Captain-]

Some physical PC games were so wild too, with no standardized boxes, and crazy swag.

[u/bs000 → u/MakesMyHeadHurt]

i miss those giant pc game boxes

[u/Stilgar314 → u/SoCpunk90]

I think the point is, if the main advantage of gaming in consoles disappears, people may be better on PC, where games are cheaper and generations are a rolling thing in which you decide how much you spend in your machine. Also, Steam is not all the PC has to offer, there are places like GoG or itch.io, in which you can download and store the game, potentially keeping it forever.

[u/SoCpunk90 → u/Stilgar314]

Good. Finally my friends will have to get a PC so we can actually play together.

[u/Ancillas → u/SoCpunk90]

Yeah, this is a risk. Steam accounts don’t transfer upon death, and without offline installers, most purchases will be lost under the current terms and conditions.

I see people who plan to pass on their logins, but after enough people die, all it will take is one large publisher threatening legal action against Valve (due to license violations) to trigger an account reaping event where Valve has to take reasonable steps to identify accounts that have been passed on to a beneficiary.

This is one of the top two things I want to see legislated, but it’s never going to get enough focus despite it impacting pretty much everyone in the country (and world).

[u/BobGuns → u/SoCpunk90]

Steam has always been about the digital library though. It's not like steam showed up and took features away.

[u/flavionm → u/SoCpunk90]

We are much better. Even if Steam somehow revoked all my licenses, I could still easily crack anything that I already have installed and download everything I don't. They can't actually take away my ability to play a game, which is completely different to how things are on consoles.

[u/pm_your_snesclassic]

Clearly Steam is the premier distributor of physical media, amirite

[u/SillyRecover]

The karma farming in this sub is insane.

[u/jackofslayers → u/SillyRecover]

I am just glad people are waking up to the Valve/Steam circlejerk

[u/Exact-Till-2739 → u/SillyRecover]

And who the fuck upvotes this kind of posts lol? Probably kids.

[u/jackofslayers → u/Exact-Till-2739]

Bots

[u/ZombifiedByCataclysm → u/SillyRecover]

Welcome to Reddit.

[u/l_______I]

And who started all of this almost 23 years ago?

[u/rjx89 → u/l_______I]

In 23 years, how many times has steam mass-removed things from people's accounts?

Meanwhile, Sony has lost the rights to 500 movies and will remove them from every account that paid for them on September 1st. No refunds

[u/l_______I → u/rjx89]

OP mentions physical media specifically in the post. And that's what I criticize Steam (Valve) for.

Yes, this is one of the better digital games platforms in existance, but they also did their part in killing physical media. From standard box releases which you could always take out and install, to copies requiring launcher and account (where discs didn't even have to contain the whole game; not to mention that launcher doesn't work on OSes that were relevant in those times, even though games would still work fine on them), ending with codes, which PS users will find in their boxes in less than 2 years.

Steam for sure stops existing in future, the question is when. And we don't know if sometimes massive libraries of games won't disappear for life. While old games on shelves will still be there. Just like on consoles.

[u/Sea_Pomegranate_4499 → u/l_______I]

As someone who has been gaming since the 80's, I am quite surprised by the sudden movement for "physical media." Probably by a lot of people who never grew up with physical media.

I still have a lot of physical media for music, because it works. I put a record or CD in and music comes out, same as always.

I have physical media for games from the 80's, 90's, and 2000s. And almost none of it works out of the box on a modern system. Some of it you can get working with virtual machines and hacks but it gets harder and harder every year.

I have bought games on Steam that I own the physical media for, just because it works. You can actually play it without instability or dual-booting an insecure 30 year old operating system.

Your 20-year old CD doesn't preserve gaming, the individual or company that makes the effort to keep the game working is preserving gaming.

Steam is never going to delete the game files from your hard drive. If you want to preserve your game media in some tin-foil world where the corporations are out to get you, just move the game files to a secure hard drive, boot up Steam on an offline computer and go to town.

[u/A_Binary_Number → u/Sea_Pomegranate_4499]

Besides all of this, CDs aren’t as “forever” as we were promised 30 years ago, some of my Ps1 & Ps2 games are already failing on a working console.

[u/rjx89 → u/l_______I]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Just pointing out that a digital purchase from steam, through out it's history, has been very reliable (maybe even more reliable than a physical purchase), and that a digital purchase on most other platforms are not as reliable.

[u/DrSheldonLCooperPhD → u/l_______I]

Hello please don't mention lootbox or skin gambling also, please follow the script and stick to the circle jerk.

[u/dethmasta → u/l_______I]

Steam wasn't the first company to have digital only games. I bought Deus Ex invisible war from another site that had a small selection a year or so before steam happened. It was called file planet I believe.

[u/--clapped--]

We HAVE to see the irony in posting this on a sub for the largest DIGITAL ONLY platform in gaming...

I don't see a disc drive on the Steam Machine.

[u/slothunderyourbed → u/--clapped--]

As someone who switched from console to PC two years ago, this sub is one of the worst circlejerks I've ever seen. The console ones can be bad but this is the most ridiculous of them all.

[u/-Captain- → u/slothunderyourbed]

When you think you've seen the most ridiculous bending backwards or the most insane obsessed Steam fan, someone on this sub will surprise you. The same redditors that will point and laugh at celeb obsessions, will fawn over Gabe day and night.

[u/acreativeuzername → u/--clapped--]

The karma farm grind never sleeps. Reddit has found its new beaten to death circle jerk infinite karma glitch

[u/brick_gnarlson → u/acreativeuzername]

Look at OP's points. The loser practically lives here.

[u/acreativeuzername → u/brick_gnarlson]

540k holy shit this guys hit master prestige reddit

[u/neppo95]

This post is peak tunnel vision. What do you think Steam is? Ever got physical media from them?

Some people really live their lives with complete double standards.

[u/Hobbitea]

"The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services."

- Steam ToS

[u/ironbeagle99]

zero self awareness lmao

[u/tugfaxd55]

Lmao, hasn't Valve fucked up the Steam Machine? Wouldn't say Valve's reputation is in good eye right now either

[u/GARGEAN → u/tugfaxd55]

No-no, you see, good and benevolent Valve was just reeeeally fucked by RAM prices. That's why Steam Machine is more expensive than sustantially stronger prebuilds with more modern hardware inside.

[u/CNK_98 → u/GARGEAN]

Dont forget about them not including a controller, dont you guys have an old Xbox 360 controller lying on the couch? That was also AI's fault.

[u/CurrentWorkUser → u/tugfaxd55]

Big Chungus Gaben is friend. Steam good. Sony bad. Updootes to the left please.

[u/Cerbatiyo-sesino]

Yeah no let's not pretend that we're piling up Ws on steam either.

The steam machine has way worse specs than a current gen console and it's more expensive and I fully expect it to go out of stock on day one

[u/Powerate]

As a PC gamer I have not bought a physical game for PC since 2015

[u/lonelyherz]

ah, I see ... it's everyone else's fault, so Steam has nothing to do with the fact that PC games are available almost exclusively in digital format...

[u/Dansocks]

Valve started it man

[u/Sunlit_Neko]

Steam users can't really brag though. They killed physical PC games and the Steam Machine released with PS5 specs but astronomically stupid prices.

[u/VangRhymez]

The irony of this dumb post

[u/unfortunatebag]

In case you wondered how brain dead this sub is... they upvoted this unironically.

[u/FloridaMan_Inc]

Ah yes, Steam, that company that's famous for still making physical media

[u/Felinomancy]

Wouldn't a more appropriate meme be something like Steam going "One of us! One of us! Gooble goble!"

[u/IrixionOne]

Aren’t games purchased on Steam also licenses for the software and not the software itself?

[u/FISH_SAUCER → u/IrixionOne]

Iirc, your are correct

[u/KoalaStrats]

As oppose to steam's large library of current physical media

[u/Goooooogol]

Me when I want to karma farm

[u/PSgamer28]

I don't get it, PCs were the first to become digital only, even in Steam it says you don't actual own any games.

"A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam."

The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet."

Directly from Steam

[u/GranolaCola]

Man, I don’t even know what to say to this.

Your title doesn’t make sense with the picture. Steam IS THE REASON physical medial died on PC. And are we conveniently forgetting Steam just nuked its own reputation with its $1000+, weaker than the six year old base PS5, no controller included Steam Machine?

[u/lemonwithmint]

U can remove the steam logo and just say pc gamers

[u/JBDBIB_Baerman]

Yes, an uncommon steam L. At least gog gives you the installers and shit 

Edit that I meant uncommon, but didn't want to seem disingenuous by just editing that out so thought I'd note that here 

[u/voodoodahl]

They think Gen Z and Gen A will just accept it. Sadly, they're right. 

[u/anon-a-SqueekSqueek]

I like steam, but since when did anyone get a physical disk from steam?

[u/GOLD-KILLER-24_7]

Fucking insane coming from a PC player

[u/Jmememan]

Steam is fucking up too, just slower

[u/BloodyWarlord117]

Steam do the same buddy, you are just blind to not see it

[u/InformalGear9638]

$1,049. Machine that's weaker than a PS5 and doesn't even come with a controller. 🤔

[u/CygnusThib]

Steam literally started this lmao.

[u/VHeadache]

Steam's success accelerated the direction to abandoning physical media.

A. General Content and Services License
"The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services."

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

When Ubisoft says "get used to not owning your games", people get mad though. But Steam started the whole thing...

[u/AccomplishedFilm7625]

[u/Kambi28]

Steam is the main villian in this topic

[u/carminahamadi]

Like this is a wild thing for the Steam sub to post.

[u/queenkasa]

braindead post

[u/redit_handoff140]

This post is quite disingenuous.

PC as a platform is not defined by Steam - It's one of the best stores, yes.

But OP completely disregards the fact most physical media enthusiasts want physical media primarily for games preservation. Well, PC is the only platform where DRM-Free games are so accessible.

That's the real option here, not Steam.

[u/Glum_Animator_5887]

£1000 for a console with no controlers, behave 

[u/Sud_literate]

steam just keeps losing. and people just keep coping. Steam deck, Steam machine, and you aren’t allowed to pass down your game library despite all the memes about the steam library being the most valuable inheritance gift.

[u/nightryder21]

Valve already took their lumps when they said you don't own your games, you only license them.

[u/JoyconDrift_69]

Like Steam didn't start the shift to digital.

[u/Psyga315]

And tell me, does Steam sell Physical copies of their best selling games?

[u/spooky-raptor]

Steam machine price controller not included

[u/JavaBETA]

People acting like playstation will remove games from your library

[u/Nowin]

Does Steam have physical media, or are Sony ans MS just playing catchup?

[u/Batking28]

Okay but this is like laughing at them going through the thing we lost a decade ago. Glass houses and all that.

Steam doesn’t offer physical media itself.

[u/Visible-Oven-7249]

How’s the steam machine doing?

[u/NimpiLi]

Steam is just sitting on a nothing Burger while consumers don’t realize that steam hates them too besides the pricing steal took away physical games and made not owning games real and big in the First Place and then there is their customer Support that only exists because steam broke to many EU Laws and still is. The support is total Shit, to verify Im the owner of my account steam doesn’t Take a normal Route noooo you need 20 recipes instead of Id they even wanted me to proof ownership of my email adress. Don’t forget steam is a shitty Company too

[u/Bubba_Jones44]

Simple as boycotting the launch but people will never do it. You want them to listen? Cost them profit.

[u/the_nathanwolf]

you own nothing in the end, so piracy isnt stealing either, hope this helped

[u/Et_Nihil]

Didn’t steam just drop a $1000 console with no controller

[u/talann]

I guess people weren't here a week ago when steam is getting flamed to hell in this very subreddit for releasing a sub par steam machine?

It doesn't seem like anyone can win.

[u/happy_gamer10]

PC offers free online service and the option of buying from multiple storefronts, Console dont. Stupid to stop physical 

[u/acreativeuzername]

Rlly don’t understand why ppl on pc subs are acting like consoles losing physical media is some huge world ending deal when we haven’t had physical media for like 20 years now lmao

aw yeah I’m so thankful that in these dark times Gabe Newell still provides me access to the holy grail of physical media, steam. The store that sells absolutely 0 physical media

[u/Raptori33]

Didn't Steam literally invent the "You don't own your games"

[u/Agarwel]

Can platform making money as a gambling site for kids really shame other platforms?

[u/Bruntti]

What a wild time to post this

[u/Durbs12]

I had two reasons for buying a PS5: physical discs and console exclusives. If I buy digital I'm doing it on my PC where I have a lot more control. If they can't even be bothered to make discs then I'll take my business to Steam for the convenience.

[u/Jwells291]

Bro, they just announced their console(exclusively does Digital only games btw) would at the lowest be just over $1k and yet it still won't be as powerful as the PS5. With all the system things that will take up storage, I wouldn't be surprised if it could just barely fit GTA6 and nothing else when that comes out. The only company this applies to is Nintendo where the last bad thing they did was announce they are increasing the Switch 2 price which is still two months away.

[u/msherretz]

Can't wait for the TIL post in 2030 that consoles used physical media.

[u/02thehunter20]

Im going to be real with you guys. Xbox has needed to clean house for years now with how many usless positions they had, that had nothing to do with gaming. Playstation getting rid of physical media was always going to have and if you thought that buying a game within the last 10ish years on disk ment you owned it, guess what you did not due to the online requirement many games had so you where always in the same boat as digital.

[u/Greydemon-dev]

You misspelled gog

[u/Due-Mycologist-1154]

Your harddrive is physical right?

[u/W1sconsinKnight]

And this was the year my library truly got with it with new videogame releases. They had Crimson Desert, Saros, RE Requiem, Pragmata, the new Lego Batman, 007 First Light, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Tomodachi Life, and Pokemon Pokopia all available to borrow day 1 (ignoring the waiting list of others lined up to borrow). Nioh 3 is the only thing I checked they didn't have. I would've gotten all those non-Nintendo games on PC, but since I already have a PS5, checking games out for it has been a huge savings and has had me using PS5 over PC for the first time ever. Looks like I'll be back to exclusively Nintendo and PC in a couple years.

[u/cancercureall]

If you care about ownership then you should be buying what you can on GOG.

[u/Overwatch_1ightning]

The thing is behind the scenes Nintendo and PC gaming are absolutely dominating. You can point to this and that but the amount that they make over the competition is ridiculous. You have to remember PC gaming has become digital so there is so little overhead for steam. Physical media died so long ago, the fact people are attached to hunks of plastic really shows the consumerist society we have become. Everything is just fomo and price gouging. I've never experienced the depravity of human beings so thoroughly, this world is definitely cooked.

[u/saul2015]

if consoles go all digital they better step up their sales and compete with 95% off sales, fanatical, and humble bundle (they won't)

[u/Lommytom]

Holy blinders Batman

[u/Vegetable-King7626]

These are the same fucking idiots that will be claiming "StEaM haS a MoNopOlY" when they lose all their customers to Gabe

[u/-Dakia]

I remember being able to buy physical PC games. I also remember how much of a fight it was because stores either had a tiny little PC section or none at all.

Steam ended up being the solution, but not because of the lack of physical media or even really because Steam was better. It was the solution because of the greed of console manufacturers locking down shelf space in box stores and game stores.

It did end up being far better overall, but I would still rather have physical media available than have everything be digital. Imagine how fucked we would be if Valve wasn't led by our Lord and Savior Gaben. Luckily, years of cheap storage have largely made digital only solutions be viable. Data caps are still out there and suck ass and now we have expensive storage. We'll see how it goes.

[u/GT_Hades]

Piracy back then can still burn games on CD

[u/orca279]

Steam? Really?

[u/putoelquevive]

11k likes this dumb ass post, sheesh

[u/mhwwad]

GOG for life!✌️

Donate to their preservation cause if you can afford it. This shit is going south REALLY fast.

[u/gLu3xb3rchi]

Lets be real here, steam started this 22 years ago, consoles just caught up. I mean I haven‘t bought a physical copy for PC since like 2009/2010 or something.

[u/swordwhisper]

Yes, this! I stopped buying CD's in like 2010 I guess...so why everyone suddenly so sensitive about it?

[u/SuccessfulCoyote275]

I remember that first time when I bought a game on Steam instead of running to the store. It was a revelation and I never looked back.

[u/LogicalTough5884]

huh? the store that has been doing only digital for how long?

[u/Dadbodsarereal]

Gabe always wins by doing nothing!

[u/Needari]

I left Xbox360 for steam and haven't owned a console since.