[Deleted - user's request]

haven't bought a game from steam what might be longer than 2 years. I recently bought a package from humblebundle but I gave most of those games away here.

Occasionally i'll go over my library, download like 5 games, then delete the steam.exe and try to run the game to see if it will work or not. And when it doesn't, i give it a thumbs down due to DRM.

I mostly use DRM-free stores exclusively. But that's becoming mighty hard for multiplayer games, since I'm starting to think GOG will always & forever have unviable multiplayer.

So then the choice becomes either to accept DRM infestations, or else never play the multiplayer portions of games that offer it.

DRM-Free exclusive Linux gamer here and I buy only from GOG, with that said, I also have Steam installed just to be able to play the Free games such as CSGO, TF2...etc won't spend a dime for DRM.

DRM-free exclusive here. (Also use Linux exclusively, except for when emulating ancient computers (running the OS the computer historically used), or when trying other free OSes (like the BSDs) in a VM.)

These days, I only buy from GOG, with the exception of one game I bought from itch.io, which I consider acceptable. I do not consider Steam acceptable, as the service explicitly supports DRM and even provides it, and I don't buy from Humble Bundle because they support DRM (by promoting bundles of DRM-encumbered software, and bundling DRM-encumbered software with DRM-free software).

As for itch.io, the thing I like about the store, and why I think it complements GOG nicely, is that it is not curated; this means that itch.io has a much bigger selection of games. Of course, there is a downside to that, and itch.io likely contains games that are not that good (and some that are DRM-ed, or for which only the demo is availabe there, with the full game sold exclusively on a DRM-ed platform), but then there's GOG, with its heavy curation, that does not have that downside.

(By the way, the game I bought from itch.io, Secret Little Haven, is the sort of game that is likely too niche for GOG; it's also very unlike the games I typically play.)

Yeah I only buy games here. Before here, I'd only buy PC games on Amazon when they had a direct download (not sure if Amazon still does it, but it used to be a thing - they'd even list the games that had that option).

Before that, I guess putting the CD in the bay was DRM ;)

In between those times, I was a console gamer for a period. Got turned off when almost every new game required an account to access parts of the game / "bonus" features... something that I take it is now almost ubiquitous (early drip of microtransactions or server checking). That and Microsoft announced the next XBOX (Xbox One) would REQUIRE always online and might not let you play used games LOL. Obviously they (sorta...) rolled that back, but it told me the direction they really really wished they could go so I was out.

I know, sort of a dinosaur. And everything now is subscription based or account this... but I'm still holding out LOL ;)

For me the choice is easy: Never play the multiplayer portions of those games, as I have about 0 interest in multiplayer. In fact, I actually have *negative* interest in competitive multiplayer; I will not even watch such games on youtube or twitch.

Only DRM-free games for me. I've never bought a game with DRM in digital distribution. Last time I bought a physical copy of DRM-ed game was 10-12 years ago, I think. Only because I didn't do enough research to find out it was "contaminated" with that crap (no info about it on the box, obviously :/ ).

I stopped playing competitive at modern warfare 2. took the disc out of my xbox and snapped it in half. I regret nothing.

There are two main issues I have with Steam in this respect:
1. Steam *provides* DRM; that means the store takes a pro-DRM stance, even if not every game uses it.
2. I believe there isn't any way, before purchase, to tell if a game on Steam has DRM there.

I'm one. For my work, I often have to go places where the internet is either not available or too slow for gaming, and so I exclusively buy DRM-free so I can play whatever I want wherever I want. Mind, it does come at a premium... GOG has no regional discount for Indonesia, and charges in US dollars, so games cost between 125% and 200% of what I'd pay on Steam.

[Deleted - user's request]

No...
I prefer to buy games here, so I at least have the option of keeping backups if I wanted to, but if a game that i'd like to play is only available elsewhere then I'm just fine with buying it there.

DRM free, open source, whatever, is all nice and well but if insisting on it limits the actual freedom of what programs I could use or what games I could play then its not worth it in my opinion, I'd have missed out on many of my favourite games then.

Is there a chance I will someday loose access to some of my games? Sure, but I'll never replay most of them anyway and the few I really like will probably be available for cheap elsewhere by then... its still a risk that's hard to oversee so i'm generally willing to pay more for a game here than on Steam for example.

Me. So +1 to whatever the count is up to at this point.