In case you have bought or rented a game in the past, you have most likely come across one or more of video game stores ranging from Valve’s video distribution steam to Electronic Arts’ origin. Those and other online and physical shops are evident that there are many choices you can prefer to buy games. However, due to miscommunication and probably false advertising, there is a lot of information not known about these stores while they have several downsides and bright sides making it difficult to decide which store to visit when in need of games.
Putting that into consideration, we have taken the time to compare some of this medium on your behalf making it easier for you to determine the best one for you while saving you time. The stores that we have put into perspective are; Windows Store, Steam, Origin, GOG, and Uplay.
Ease of Use
As for windows store, it is more concerned about the user reviews instead of the more essential trailers and videos. Steam, on the other hand, seems disorganized making it very hard to find what you want. For instance, sports cars appear in the sports category when they ought to be in the racing category.
Origin which is a product of EA has upgrade options for its games most probably eying to reap a lot from them. Ubisoft’s Uplay does not look any special either with its website looking more like steam and origin.
GOG works best in its user-friendly inter-phase. It has the cleanest look, and the clear display of the store and download menus on the same screen makes it easier for users to get all the information in a short time. On the bright side, origin makes it faster to navigate on its screen by using poster-kind thumbnails and big orange buy buttons to direct purchase. GOG and Origin are the best when it comes to the ease of use.
Variety of Games
Steam sources most of its games from third-party publishers and has the most extensive collection of games in its library. Uplay has 75 games sourced from India while Origin stocks a few games from third parties other than the games from EA. However, Steam sells its third-party games cheaper than Origin. Apart from the Steam, the other stores are more concerned with first party games.
GOG has a total of 1584 games owing to its vast collection of DRM free games. Among its collection is high profile games such as No Man’s Sky and The Witcher 3 but it does not have most of the new top games. Steam is unsurprisingly the winner when it comes to variety because of its large stock and new games, but other stores do well in this category.
INR Pricing
Pricing of games is done in USD which hurts other countries who use their currency to buy the games in countries such as India since players have to spend extra cash in conversion and additional mandatory fees. Several measures have been taken to stem this disadvantage.
All the Steam, Window Store, and Origin use INR pricing when selling games in India. However, Valve is the only one that adjusts its prices regarding purchasing power to give the best value to Indians who buy games. Uplay and GOG still lag when it comes to pricing as they are still stuck with payment in dollars. Microsoft and EA convert from dollars to INR directly. The currency for payment for Ubisoft in India is Euros. The winner for the best payment option in INR is Steam.
Payment Method
GOG, Windows Store and Steam accept both international debit and credit cards. Origin and Uplay only accept credit cards. Ubisoft and GOG accept PayPal while Steam accepts Skrill and Bitcoin. You can gift a game to friends and family using Steam and GOG. Again, Steam takes the best spot in the payment contest.
Refund Policy
Steam offers no-questions-asked the refund if a game is returned 14 days after the purchase and two hours of game time. For Origin, the rebate is for 24 hours after you launch a game and within seven days after purchase, whichever comes first. GOG gives you a refund within 30 days of purchase. The rest have no refund policy giving GOG an edge over the others.
With the review highlighted above, it is safe for you to decide what option to consider. By the look of things, Steam and GOG could be one of the favorite picks because of their overwhelming advantages.
