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Our Experts Have Tested 36 Products in the PC Games Category in the Past Year
If you're shopping for video games this holiday season, there's no need to trek to your local game shop. Online connections are speedier than ever, which makes it incredibly easy and convenient to buy or rent games from an online video game marketplace. Just as Whole Foods and 7-Eleven satisfy different food needs, the various game stores we've reviewed cater to numerous gaming interests. Below, you'll find everything that you need to know to start shopping for the best PC games .
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
4.0 Excellent
Steam is by far the biggest and most important PC gaming marketplace—the store is virtually synonymous with PC gaming. Its massive library and innovative features make gaming on your computer more approachable and appealing than ever.
Steam is for everyone. It has the hottest AAA releases, creative indies, and classics at discount prices. Its interface scales for playing on your desktop as well as your TV. And thanks to the Steam Deck, Steam is also an excellent marketplace for high-powered handheld gaming.
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Steam Review
4.0 Excellent
PC gaming is one of the only (legal) ways of preserving old games that get left behind as new consoles emerge. GOG.com (short for Good Old Games) does vital work by offering classic titles reconfigured to run on current PCs. With GOG, you can turn PC gaming’s entire history into the ultimate backlog.
As the company's title states, GOG is for people who want good old games. Its modern game library isn’t quite as robust, but that’s not the point. GOG connects with other game stores, so it can supplement, say, your Steam library rather than replace it.
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GOG.com Review
4.0 Excellent
Humble Bundle helps you purchase great PC games from the other marketplaces on this list, as well as the digital versions of console games. It even sells other kinds of entertainment, such as comic books and novels. The twist is that when you buy from Humble Bundle, you also support worthwhile charities.
Humble Bundle is for people who want to help their fellow humans while buying a good game. You can stick to the featured games, or take a look at the charity-driven bundles for deep deals. These packages are a superb value, bundling together awesome games at a shockingly low price.
(Editors' Note: Humble Bundle is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)
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Humble Review
4.0 Excellent
Itch.io is the indie PC gaming marketplace. It’s the place you go to find experimental games completely divorced from the boring mainstream releases. Fortunately, excellent search options and a welcoming community guide you through these uncharted waters.
Itch.io is for people who want under-the-radar releases, not just what big publishers pump out. Games are typically cheap or free, so feel free to take risks.
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itch.io Review
3.5 Good
With rental stores like Blockbuster all but eliminated, GameFly is basically the only way to physically rent video games. Instead of paying full price to own a disc, you subscribe and receive games in the mail. Once you’re finished, mail it back and get the next game from your queue.
Anyone who'd rather rent games than purchase them; after all, some new, next-gen titles cost $70. No other service provides what GameFly does, so if you want physical rentals this is your only option. However, GameFly’s service has become less and less impressive over the years, with increasingly long wait times for new releases.
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GameFly Review
3.5 Good
Although Xbox is indeed the name of Microsoft’s home console, it’s also the brand Microsoft uses for its PC gaming store. The app comes preinstalled with Windows 11 and has useful features like voice chat and video recording.
Xbox on PC is for Xbox fans who don’t want to stay locked to a console. The library isn’t quite as broad as what you’ll see on an Xbox Series X/S, but it has many recognizable titles, such as Halo and MLB The Show 23. It even integrates with Xbox Game Pass.
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Xbox Review
3.0 Average
Epic Games used its hoard of Fortnite money to create its own PC gaming marketplace. The Epic Games Store strives to rival Steam and become the first place you go when you want to game on PC. It's not quite there yet, but the platform's selection of timed exclusives has made it a major part of the conversation.
The Epic Games Store is missing too many games and basic features for us to wholeheartedly recommend it, but it does have worthwhile aspects. The store has exclusive games that lack annoying digital rights management (DRM), and it frequently gives away free games. Aspiring video game designers should also check out its Unreal Engine resources.
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Epic Games Store Review
3.0 Average
PC gamers love a good bargain, especially when the cost of building a new gaming PC is so steep. For frequent deals on new releases, don’t overlook Green Man Gaming.
Green Man Gaming is for frugal PC players who want to buy games on the cheap. That said, there has been controversy over how the store offers such low prices. Green Man Gaming lacks browsing tools, and it shut down its community features, making it a bare-bones shopping experience.
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Green Man Gaming ReviewBuying Guide: The Best Places to Buy and Rent PC Games Online in 2024
The stores listed above primarily offer computer games (Linux, macOS, and Windows) to digitally download. Occasionally, you’ll find books, movies, software, and other kinds of entertainment, but those are not the focus. That's not to say you can't also download console or mobile games; Xbox’s PC app sells Microsoft Flight Simulator, while Humble Bundle just added Nintendo Switch codes to its catalog.
Unfortunately, some third-party publishers force you to download games from their own online stores, such as Blizzard’s Battle.net, EA's Origin, Rockstar's Games Launcher, and Ubisoft's Uplay. However, many of those same publishers have recently relaxed those restrictions and spread their titles across multiple storefronts. Between Apple Arcade, GameClub, and Xbox Game Pass (available on console and PC), many platform holders also want video game subscription services to be the next way they sell titles on their devices. Even places you wouldn’t expect, such as Discord or Twitch, sell video games or include free games as part of a subscription.
As for GameFly and Green Man Gaming, those stores have removed major features since we last looked at them. Green Man Gaming's gimmick is selling discounted keys to other game stores, a legitimate, but sometimes controversial practice that Direct2Drive and the much sketchier G2A also employ. Despite being one of the last bastions for game rentals, GameFly’s delivery was painfully slow in our tests. Green Man Gaming also shut down its Playfire social network, while GameFly shut down its game streaming service (an ambitious feature even Google failed to get right with Stadia, which has since shut down).
Why You Should Game on a PCWhy You Should Game on a PC
The biggest thing you should pay attention to when choosing an online game store is the library. Don't waste your time browsing a store that doesn't have the games you want. The stores we've covered have surprisingly diverse libraries.
Editors' Choice pick Steam offers nearly every PC game under the sun, new or old, indie or AAA, awash with post-release content or early access titles. Steam is also the easiest way to buy and play games for your Steam Deck, with the Verified program letting you know which games run best on the high-powered handheld. Enterprising users can run other stores on Steam Deck, but the Linux-based device is built for Steam.
While they all have limitations, the Epic Games Store, Humble, Bundle, and Xbox also aim for mass appeal similar to Steam. Other stores target more niche markets. GOG.com specializes in older, classic PC games, while itch.io highlights more independent, artistic work.
Other factors may also influence your shopping experiences, such as digital rights management (DRM), customer service, refund policies, and development tools for aspiring game creators. Humble Bundle may not feature a library as robust as its competitors, but the store offers many enticing discounts for great charity causes.
Different sites also offer different search options. If you don't know exactly what you want that's okay. But on, say, itch.io, you can set up the storefront to only display "colorblind friendly Windows games under $10 that last a few hours and include virtual reality support." Many stores even include social features, so you can interact with fellow gamers and creators, read user reviews, and participate in community events. All of these social and recommendation features make it easier to find your next purchase. Follow PCMag’s Steam Curator page for recommendations.
These stores would love it if you exclusively bought games on their services, but don't forget you have choices as a consumer. Nothing is stopping you from buying the Resident Evil 4 remake from Steam and Maneater from the Epic Games Store. Some stores even lean into this fact. The GOG Galaxy client syncs your accounts from rival platforms to create a unified gaming hub. Likewise, you can access itch.io from within the Epic Games store. Even Valve's own Steam Deck portable PC works with non-Steam marketplaces. So, do what's best for you. Compare prices on CheapShark. Claim free games where you can find them. Be a smart shopper and brush up on the best online video game marketplaces before making your next purchase.
Buying a gaming PC used to be only for people with more money than time (or sense), but times have absolutely changed. Prices have come down to the point where building your own doesn't save you as much as it once did. Even if you do pay a price premium, you get perks like support, warranties, and discounts by buying prebuilt. But before you whip out your credit card, here are some things you should think about first to make sure prebuilt is right for you.
Is Now a Good Time to Buy?
When is it ever really the right time to get a gaming PC? They can cost as much as a used car, without the getting-to-places utility, and can prove as finicky as a large houseplant (without the air-cleansing benefits). Hear us out, though. We’re not really going anywhere right now, and unlike most houseplants, gaming PCs can last you about a decade if you invest time and money.
Gaming PC retailers really bury the lede on why gaming PCs are worth anywhere from $700 to $3,000. You don’t drop all that money just to play next-gen games with 4K resolution or to get the competitive edge with mouse-and-keyboard shooter accuracy. Gaming PCs are a social play environment. They offer access to an ecosystem of multiplayer games, in which you, friends, and strangers occupy the same digital space—in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, competitive shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, MOBAs like League of Legends, and in the infrastructure of PC gaming apps, including Discord and Steam.
Gaming PCs are channels for passive socializing, a way to stay in touch with homies or make new ones. A lot can be said before “Where we droppin’, boys?” and today’s online avatars are as expressive as ever. It’s hard not to feel lonely in quarantine, and for a lot of people, their gaming PCs form the heart of their daily online bonds.
“We’re seeing tens of digits of percentage increase in the amount of time people are playing at home, and tens of digits of increase in the amount of people playing,” says Intel’s GM of desktop Frank Soqui. “Gaming keeps people connected. Although you feel isolated at home, it’s extremely social—you can do things like stream your game, social media elements for voice and text in-game. Sometimes, people don’t use the game to game. They use it to hang out and connect again.”
How Are Prices?
Covid-19 has thrown much of the manufacturing world into flux. A lot of PC component manufacturers are based in China, which was hit hard by Covid-19. PC shipments have fallen 8 percent this year, according to analytics firm Canalys—the largest drop since 2013.
On the other hand, both AMD and Intel described PC and PC component prices as stable in interviews with WIRED. “We haven’t seen much volatility outside of the typical pricing competitiveness that we’re used to in our industry,” says Frank Azor, AMD’s chief architect of gaming solutions.
“We’ve seen prices fairly stable, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see one pick up here and there, depending on the manufacturer,” says Intel’s Soqui. Data on PCPartPicker.com corroborates this; although prices for video cards went up last year, they’ve remained mostly stable ever since. Monitor and power supply prices are a little up, and CPUs have had small ups and downs. Overall, nothing major.