Welcome! On this page you can find out everything about most popular and those less popular websites that can easily compete with Steam Store!

You can discuss alternative shops in the comments!

We will mention if any of the listed shops contain DRM (Digital Restriction Management) games, regional locked games or regional shops. SSL security is also another important feature to protect customer’s personal information so that will be mentioned as well.

If any information on this page is incorrect please let us know as soon as possible.

Note: Please remember that if you are buying a CD-KEY only you are still obliged to own a legal, physical copy of the game (in most cases).

Stores and digital distribution systems

• Good Old Games – no DRM, available worldwide
• Direct2Drive – contains DRM and regional locked games, in some parts of Europe prices are in €
• Impulse – contains DRM and regional locked games
• Gamestop – USA only and contains DRM games
• GamesPlanet – contains DRM games
• GameTap – available worldwide
• Metaboli (UK, DE, FR, IT) – contains DRM games
• GamersGate – no SSL and regional locked games
• GAME.co.uk – contains DRM games
• DLGamer – info here
• Green House – Greenhouse is a direct download platform that focuses almost exclusively on indie games. Run by Hothead, a Canadian company well-known for the Penny Arcade series of role-playing games.
• Xfire Game Store – Europe, USA
• Games On Demand – also known as Games for Windows Live from Microsoft
• EA Store – DRM and regional locked games, regional shops that differ greatly from each other in many cases, poor Live Chat support, this store is 100% legit but not recommended
• Amazon – DRM games and regional shops that differ greatly from each other in many cases
• GetGames – EuroGamer online game store
• Battle.net – Blizzard’s store (featuring Diablo, StarCraft and Warcraft series)

Buy at your own risk – CD-Key stores and more

* Steam Support might disable your Steam account for using a non-official ways to buy keys for Valve or any other keys with Steamworks, you must be aware of the risk. In rare cases Valve might remove your game if the keys are from some Asian countries and you used them for example in Spain, UK etc.

* Steam Unpowered team is not entirely sure if it’s safe to buy there or not, most people don’t have problems with for example G2Play.net but some do, buy at your own risk!

• cdkeyshop – no SSL and DRM games
• KEYS4.ME – A new CD-Key shop that posted at our forums. To Forum Thread. It’s offering a 10% discount on your first purchase for Steam Unpowered users. (Just enter the following code in your basket unpowered). If you have experience with this shop please provide feedback. Update: After many users reported their good experiences with this shop we move it to the approved list.
• DirectGameKeys.com – no SSL. We don’t know anything about this shop yet. If you know anything, feedback is greatly appreciated
• GameKeyDistrict – a new site (at least for us) that sells keys, unfortunately we have no information about this website and we currently can’t check if it’s a reliable site or not so we put it in this section for now update: the site works 100%, we checked it with few Steam titles (thanks to our friends) and even received a scan of the cdkey itself, we can recommend the website to anyone (they got working Mass Effect 2 – EADM needed and for example BitDefender Internte Security – both tested and ok).update: In one case a Bad Company 2 Key for EADM got revoked and disabled. (In that case no cd-key scan was provided). update: A Few days later the game has been fully refunded by GameKeyDistrict.com WARNING! In some rare cases requires ID, passport or driving license scans!
• G2Play.net people claim their keys don’t work in several cases (but are being replaced or refunded afterwards), some keys are cut versions of games on Steam WARNING! In some cases requires ID, passport or driving license scans!
• CD Key Warehouse  – An other CD-Key shop that posted at our forums. To Forum Thread. If have feedback to provide feel free to post in the comment section here or at the forum thread.
• OnlineKeyStore aka Direct4Drive -  after many complaints we removed this from the approved list – they’ve been selling weird FEAR 2 keys which couldn’t be registered on Steam but worked online with pirated copies of the game we moved it back to the approved list after they resent the MW2 keys when Valve banned some and in the end they do not sell FEAR 2 anymore (they had problem with it). Special 10% off discount for Steam Unpowered users, use this coupon: STEAMUNPOWD235 Update: After multiple users complained about this shop failure to deliver proper keys and problems with refunding in the past. Forum Thread WARNING! In some cases requires ID, passport or driving license scans!
• MMOOPS – Mmoops compares prices and provides detailed reviews for more than 830 online shops that sell MMO related goods.

Disapproved list*

* Those sites have proven to be dangerous in one or the other way. Avoid at all cost or you will lose your money!

• CDkey-Game.com – do not buy from them, they offer Steam gifts, then charge back the money on PayPal and you’re left with either disabled game on your list or disabled account.
• cdkeyexpress (click here for forum discussion) – do not buy from them, like the shop above they offer Steam gifts, which are paid over some fraudulent methods that leave you with a disabled account.

Changelog for this page:

07/08/10 Rearranged the page, added Microsoft store, moved EA and Amazon to Stores and digital distribution systems
11/06/10 G2Play description updated
more…

Please remember to report your shopping experience with any of the shops above, whether good or bad. This gives us a better insight if the shops are reliable enough or not.

NOTE: STEAM UNPOWERED IS NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WITH CDKEY STORES OR DIGITAL STORES, WE ARE JUST PROVIDING THE BEST STEAM ALTERNATIVES FOUND ON THE INTERNET. IF YOU THINK WE ARE ADVERTISING OUR OWN BUSSINESS GO DIE IN HELL AND LEAVE THIS GROUP/WEBSITE.