The largest List of Steam Alternatives and Digital Download Shops – Steam Competition on the Rise

It’s lonely at the top – it really is. Good thing that there are so many new alternatives to the rather monolithic download game business to keep Steam company. Not that Steam had been resting on it’s laurels. They welcome the competition – welcome them with guns blazing. The winners are we, the gamers. So please keep them coming and fill our list of Steam alternatives and digital download shops:

Download to Own – Standards (PC, Mac, Linux?)

Download to Own – Video Consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DSi)

Download to Own – Indie (PC)

Download to Own – Retro & Classics (PC)

Download to Own – Casual (PC)

Subscriptions and Flat-fees (PC)

Game Streaming (All Platforms)

Release, News, Deal Aggregators (All Platforms)

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Sorry, if I forgot someone. Just drop me a comment.

More info and some shop reviews can also be found here.
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Update [Nov, 16th 2010]

  • Added: yuplay.com, spiritling.com, Adventureshop, desura.com
  • Deleted: InstantAction
  • Updated: Microsoft Marketplace

Update [May, 16th 2010]

Shops Added

Categories Added

  • Indie
  • Casual

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Update [May, 18th 2010]

Shops Added

  • Aspyr (Mac only)
  • Green Man Gaming

Update [May, 26th 2010]

Shops Added

  • http://www.gamessence.com/

Added some company labels for stores.

Update [September, 21st 2010]

  • Added: The Adventure Shop
  • Updated: Good Old Games
  • GameTree
by on May 4, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Games, Shops
Tagged , , , , , ,
Posted by Sebastian on May 4, 2010

http://www.deals4downloads.com/blog/2010/05/04/the-largest-list-of-steam-alternatives-and-digital-download-shops-steam-competition-on-the-rise/

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8 Comments

  1. Pablo

     /  May 4, 2010

    Great job with this blog. Awesome information.
    I’m beginning to analyze the market for digital distribution on PC. And as in the economy of information is reasonable to see the clear dominance of steam. Even I support it until we have something better. Benefits all consumers who have so much competition steam.
    It’s my opinion. I’m finishing my carrera at university in Lic. in System of information.
    Sorry for the bad english, i’m from argentina…
    I do not comment on blogs but I quite like the way you show the information.

  2. Sebastian

     /  May 5, 2010

    Hi Pablo, thx for the praise.

    As for Steam, yes we like it too:) It’s an awesome service with great features. However, some people have issues with the level of intrusion Steam puts on his users.

    In a discussion in one of my blogs at Gamasutra someone commented: “The feeling I get when using Steam is that I have brought in a government body along with the game that provides me with certain services, but does it at the cost of freedom with my games.” I can fully understand this.

    Anyway, as I said, in the end, we the gamers will be the winner of a good and healthy competition.

  3. DarkPGR

     /  May 6, 2010

    Just a little typo… it’s Games for Windows LIVE (since it’s part of the Xbox LIVE network and not the Windows Live one… at least for now, those two are not completely the same)

  4. Sebastian

     /  May 6, 2010

    Thx, fixed that.

  5. David

     /  June 15, 2010

    This page and http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SebastianLindig/20100504/5079/Steam_Competition_on_the_Rise__a_comprehensive_List_of_Alternatives.php

    seem to becoming out of sync…

  6. Sebastian

     /  June 15, 2010

    thanks for the reminder. I updated the Gamasutra site.

  7. Viiral

     /  July 17, 2010

    Alienware uses direct2drive so technically they could not be on the list?

  8. Sebastian

     /  July 17, 2010

    Are you sure that it’s D2D? In fact, quite a number of the other shops using some white label aggregator to run their shops. Still, they differ in terms of service and sometimes pricing and specials so I’d rather leave them on However, I’ll update the list with more information on the white label behind the shop.