It’s there, and I’m lazy.

I mean steam adds a convenient way to keep your games up to date instead of having to manually patch them. I also was on the anti-steam bandwagon for the longest time until I finally gave in and decided to buy Modern Warfare 2 in 2010. I ended up repurchasing the rest of the Call of Duty games because it was so convenient not needing the discs and not having to locate patches.

Steam is the one launcher I don’t get pissed about having to use because it has so many value add features.

Unlike epic/origin/uplay

Its for DRM. The easiest way to check if you actually own the game is to have the game contantly ask whether its connected to the server. The server should have your payment info. If thats not found, your game isnt legit.

Thats why GOG is so good, their games dont have DRM. Meaning you (and pirates) have a BETTER version of the game. Let me repeat that, downloading an illegal copy gives you a better running version of the same game you mightve paid for, because it doesnt have to contantly talk to a server before the game will allow you to do anything.

When you pirate a steam game, youre also downloading a “fake” version of steam, a steam emulator. The way they break DRM for steam games doesnt remove the DRM, but it slightly reduces the issues DRM causes because the server it is communicating with is local and doesnt have to index user files. Your game just asks the steam emulator if its legit, the steam emulator doesnt check anything, it just says that whatever got checked was legit.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I see there is a lot of features that I have no use for so I never explored (controller stuff, cloudsave, social features, achievements, etc)… I guess auto updates are cool though, but I only play old games anyway :P

You think we want launchers?

I hated being forced to use Steam when it launched, after they shut down WON that was used for CS. I want as little applications running in the background 24/7 as possible.

Steam got better overall, making the 24/7 background application actually useful to keep running (controller support to control desktop, chats, notifications of sales, etc). Nobody else does that tho, and I definitely don’t want to use a different launcher for every fucking game/store.

I like the ease of use and services Steam provides. The easy installs/reinstalls, cloud saves, the custom Notes are very useful for me, the library organization, some steam workshop stuff, the community hubs for games are fun shared content, the guides, the discussions, the reviews. All of it makes a nice experience. In general it’s also cheaper than console. Then they made Steam Deck which is possibly my fav console ever.

I use Steam Input to set up mouse input on my controller to utilize gyro aiming, which lets me play against mouse players without utilizing aim assist.

And I also set up keyboard inputs on my controller to be able to utilize keyboard short cuts over relying on things like the weapon/item wheel.

Makes it so I get a controller experience that is more mouse and keyboard like that I couldn’t get relying on default controller schemes.

I don’t. Launching things is my desktop environment’s job.

Since the rise of game publishers’ launchers, I have to use my (desktop) launcher to launch a (storefront’s) launcher to launch a (publisher’s) launcher to launch the game. It’s probably the best example of the yo dawg meme I have ever seen. In other words, ridiculously annoying, not to mention wasteful of my time and system resources.

I resent the accusation that I need a launcher. I don’t.

1. Games get updates far more often than they did back in the 90s and 00s. If your game is installed, it’s pushed to you automatically. If it’s not installed, the next time you install it, you’ll be on the latest version.
2. Installing a game is passive compared to inserting the next disc, fishing out the serial key, etc. You just click download and walk away for 5 minutes. Likewise, as games are very large these days, you can easily uninstall and reinstall games on limited drive space very easily from the same UI.
3. Cloud saves. They’re always nice to have. You can rig up something like it if you’ve got the networking and scripting know-how, but once again, it’s just passive through a launcher like Steam.
4. There’s a lot to be said about the longevity of network multiplayer games that allow you to self host and port forward, but Steam and its ilk mean that the average person never has to learn how to do that ever, and it’s more secure for the end users for Steam to take on the burden of facilitating the connection.
5. With things like Steam’s Big Picture Mode, you can navigate an entire library and jump from game to game with nothing but a controller.
6. Launching a game via Proton, whether in Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, or Steam, is just easier and more automatic than not using a launcher.

All that said, there’s a lot of value to GOG for never requiring the launcher (but they make an annoying exception for network multiplayer games).

Ease of use, manages updates and just keeps it all together.

My first PC games you had to exit windows and load the game thru DOS, it meant we learned how computers actually worked, but it was a hassle.

90’s kid myself so I probably don’t fit into the old gamer category, but my grievance with launchers is the same with most UI systems: I must figure out how the author expected it to be used, and if there’s something that bothers me, finding ways to circumvent or solve it is a quest.

At least with terminal-based tools, or very basic lanunchers, I can find far more easily ways to make launching games ideal, even by bridging to a program or the system’s UI.

I played PC games since the early 90s, so I am well familiar with how things used to be before steam. And it was fine. I was hesitant to use steam at first, because like you say, I simply didn’t understand the point of it. Sometime after Valve released the orange box, that ended up being the first thing I bought on steam. And back then, some of the first things that I noticed about it was the ease of installing games, and the friends list that let me talk to and play games with my friends. I ended up getting really into team fortress 2, largely because I could play with people I knew, and we could even chat outside the game easily. It was easy to buy other games that these same friends were playing, and then enjoy a different game with them.

I got used to steam and it began to feel convenient, and at the same time, physical media started dying off. Steam let me easily install and uninstall any of my games whenever I wanted. I didn’t have to keep track of any physical media. I don’t have any of my old PC games from the 90s anymore. I have no idea where there went or how I lost them. But they are just gone. However, I still have every game I’ve ever bought on steam.

I’m not a heavy gamer anymore. If I see something I want, it’s easy to just put it on my wishlist and wait until it goes on sale at a price I think is reasonable. If I feel bored, I might open up my full list of games and browse for something to install. My game saves get backed up to the cloud. My controllers just work. Everything related to the gaming experience is integrated into one place, and I like that, it makes it easy. And for the most part, steam kind of just stays out of my way.

I’m a steam and gog fan.

I use steam for the ability to plug in any controller I want and instantly be able to use it. I can download controller maps from the community on the fly.
I can stream straight to my TV and play in any room with a TV in it with zero effort. I can join my friends games with two clicks. Remote play allows you to play games you don’t even own with your friends. Works on linux. Integrated workshop. Easy modding.

I use gog for older games not on steam. Works on linux. (Heroic at least)

I could go on with steam, but those are the key points stands alone games don’t offer.