This is what steam is: a lesser form of ownership in exchange for the perks of the platform. I’ve come to prefer physical media first, DRM free second, and steam third. It’s just not as good of a value proposition to me compared to outright ownership (of the license to use the software, I know we don’t own “the game”).
Physical media today isn’t really much better though, increasingly frequently all a disk gets you is a license to activate a digital copy anyways, with a “must be online for first play” requirement.
This is what steam is: a lesser form of ownership in exchange for the perks of the platform. I’ve come to prefer physical media first, DRM free second, and steam third. It’s just not as good of a value proposition to me compared to outright ownership (of the license to use the software, I know we don’t own “the game”).
Physical media today isn’t really much better though, increasingly frequently all a disk gets you is a license to activate a digital copy anyways, with a “must be online for first play” requirement.
That’s exactly how I ended up with a steam account. Bought a Civ V cd and the game isn’t on the cd, just an installer for steam and a key.
You got a CD? Some of these boxes have just a piece of heavy paper with a code to download. Fortnite for Switch immediately comes to mind.
The only benefit of this is for those who want to pay for cash or those who want a physical box to display.
No, you don’t own the copyright, but you do own your individual copy. Don’t fall for the “licensed, not sold” self-serving propaganda.