Before the early 2000s, purchasing a new video game meant going to a physical store. It was sometimes a whole ordeal, with part of it feeling like an adventure and the other part feeling like a tedious mission. We’d count down the days until release day, have to scour an entire store to find the type of game we enjoyed, and hope that a sale would be running sometime soon. The feeling of having a video game box in our hands was something special, with the blurb on the back and the game manual giving us hints on what’s to come.
While we can still enjoy that physical game experience today, waiting in line in the pouring rain is no longer necessary. With just a few clicks, we can access new releases on day one and every single game imaginable online whenever we want. Digital game stores selling everything from indie titles to the latest blockbuster releases are accessible through consoles, smartphones, and computers.
Curious about know where to shop? In this article, we’re going over the biggest game stores today.
Steam
Steam is a leading platform for most PC gamers. It was launched in 2003 as a way for players to purchase Valve’s own games but quickly evolved into a marketplace for tens of thousands of video game titles. Browsing Steam is much like how you can now find 1000s of games at a real money online casino, with games across every genre in its catalog.
Standout Features
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- Extensive catalog of games: Steam has the biggest library of PC games online, including add-on content and extras.
- Constant sales: Steam boasts a variety of seasonal and impromptu sales every year, with the iconic Summer Sale and Winter Sale offering some of the biggest discounts out there.
- Community features: The Steam platform also has community content like guides, tips, forums, and more.
Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store is another game distribution service for Windows and Mac. After Fortnite’s success, Epic Games decided to launch its own platform to compete against Valve’s Steam. Steam’s revenue cut was a high 30%, so the team decided to settle for a competitive 12% cut and drop licensing fees for games built on their own Unreal Engine.
Standout Features
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- Exclusive titles: While most game stores have exclusive titles, Epic does it differently with timed exclusives.
- Simple, without the bells and whistles: The minimalistic and intuitive interface makes it easy to find whatever you’re looking for, such as lucrative deals or major releases.
- Experience Detail Pages: The dedicated pages for specific game experiences allow you to personalize your library and get right into the action.
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store was one of the first console game storefronts that let players browse for games and purchase them directly from the interface. For a native console experience, users can access the store directly with their controllers to gain access to DLCs, media content, and full games.
Standout Features
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- PlayStation Plus: The three tiered subscription plans, Essential, Extra, and Premium, offer monthly games under one fee, access to online multiplayer, exclusive discounts and content, and lots more.
- Day-one digital releases: Every PlayStation-compatible game is available right when it’s released to the public, so you can decide whether you want to purchase it in person or online.
- Cross-Buy and Remote Play: While most games on the PS Store are built for PlayStation, Remote Play lets you stream compatible games to a smartphone or computer.
Microsoft Store
Much like the PlayStation Store is the native games store for the PlayStation console, the Microsoft Store is the built-in storefront for Xbox consoles and Windows PCs. For those who play PC games and have an Xbox, it’s the ultimate destination for all your games, DLCs, apps, and more.
Standout Features
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- Cross-platform support: Gamers know that cross-platform support has historically been slow to implement. With the Xbox Play Anywhere program, you can purchase a game and play it on a PC and Xbox with your progress and achievements synced across the board.
- Xbox Game Pass: Considered the gaming subscription with the best value, the Xbox Game Pass comes with day-one access, cloud gaming, Xbox exclusives, and tons of monthly third-party titles and indie games.
- Smart delivery: Once you purchase a game, the store will automatically provide you with the optimal version for your console, whether you have a Series X or an Xbox One.
Nintendo eShop
Accessible on the web and from your Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo eShop is where you can find all downloadable and purchasable games for the console, including demos and DLCs. Unlike the Microsoft Store and PlayStation Store, the Nintendo eShop was much slower to roll out but has now become integral to the Nintendo experience.
Standout Features
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- Support for indie games: Because the eShop makes it easy for developers to publish and the Switch format allows for indie games to thrive, you’ll find many fun indie titles across the store.
- Nintendo Switch Online: Paid membership grants players access to 100+ NES and Game Boy games, online play, and free access to DLC like Animal Crossing New Horizon’s Happy Home Paradise.
itch.io
itch.io might not have the infrastructure and renown the other mentions on this list have, but it presents a much more community-driven approach with access to a vast library of indie games. Gamers can explore multiplayer games, horror games, role-playing games, interactive fiction, and all sorts of alternative experiences to commercial titles.
Standout Features
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- Open platform for developers: Developers don’t have to go through a grueling approval process and can design their game pages to align with the look and feel of their games.
- Flexible pricing: In addition to pricing their games any way they want, developers can choose how much revenue share they want to give to itch.io and adopt a donation-based pricing model. They also allow users to purchase bundles, which feature a collection of games for a single price.
- Game jams: itch.io hosts game jams, where developers create a game in a short period of time based on a specific theme.