Steam Alternatives
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
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Good Old Games – no DRM, available worldwide
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Direct2Drive – contains DRM and regional locked games, in some parts of Europe prices are in €
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Impulse – contains DRM and regional locked games
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Gamestop – USA only and contains DRM games
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GamesPlanet – contains DRM games
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GameTap – available worldwide
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GamersGate – no SSL and regional locked games
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GAME.co.uk – contains DRM games
- 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 nowupdate: 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.
52 Responses to “Steam Alternatives”
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: facepalm about the tv-manipulation of some guys. brain washed ...
: oh nice to see the taliban are the bad guys. i would see your country under the influence of nazis and what u are screamin [...]
: @joeangry it's cheaper "if you speak CZ/PL/RU" because publishers sells it cheaper in those countries! It has nothing to do with cdkey shops tiers, because [...]
: @benetti ....thanks for the information how many servers they have in europe. but we will see the results...i hope brink will get dedicated server files [...]
: joeangry unfortunately thats still down to the publishers, region locking etc, not alot key stores can do really 
: Yeah, but they have only servers in USA, 7 servers in EU an 1 in Australia. One provider can't be everywhere and I want servers [...]
: Agree with the definition but its kinda like, if you speak CZ/PL/RU its cheapper.
: joeangry, not us personally but its not tiers. Tiers are selling the same product at different prices in different locations.
: those selling mafia 2 CZ/PL/RU the half they sell mafia 2 EN/FR/DE/IT/ES ^^ not your shop no worries ^^
: @ benetti for me its quite the ssame. cod7 ranked server will costs something like 15$ and for an bc2-server from so much companys u [...]
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G2Play is no longer reachable (netherlands)
g2Play is no longer reachable (italy)
works ok in Poland
Works in Germany, but I noticed sometimes the server does not respond. Just retry. Usually the second request is answered.
g2Play is no longer reachable (Estonia)
Oh i have reached it by this aadress – http://www.g2play.net/store/home.php
can we get some play.com feedback?
There are some websites that I found out and aren’t listed here.
I’ve bought a Dawn of War 2 and HL2+CS:Source CD_Keys from DirectGameKeys.com and they worked allright for half the price on Steam.
There is also CDKeyHeaven.com, but it seems its the same than the one above (same price, they link to each other and the email I received with the CD-Keys mentioned both websites).
hope it helps
-ricky
I’ve bought a Cd-key of Dawn of War 2 at this site:
http://www.d2cdkeyshop.com/
They have really good prices infact i’ve bought dow2 at 13.99 $ (about 10 euros) it’s a real bargain!
They are messing around with the g2play.net/pl domain and/or webspace at the moment… not reachable
OnlineKeyStore may not be that good !
I just bought a FEAR2 key, supposed to be used in steam as retail uses it. It’s mandatory. They could not be registered, and the admin oriented me on a cracked copy of the game to use my key. The cracked copy would put my Steam account on the verge of banning. Oh ! And the key does not match the format given by the retail cd keys page on Steam.
I opened a request of refund through paypal. I’ll keep you informed.
Here is the log on shoutbox on their forum
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 02:55 PM) or was there a retail version not needing steam ?
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 02:56 PM) it means retail not using steam yes lol
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 02:57 PM) such a version existed ? is it possible to point me to a link to download it ?
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 02:57 PM) of course it exists not everything is steam, it just means its from dvd
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 02:58 PM) yeah but the DVD was using a steam installer and made you register the game to a steam account.
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 02:59 PM) I think there’s only this version as on steam site they were proud to have FEAR2 using steamworks in a news
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:02 PM) and steam tells me my key is invalid
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:05 PM) its from a retail dvd it aint only on steam and the key is not invalid
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:05 PM) so can you point me to a link to get the installer ?
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:06 PM) http://www.warez-bb….0429&highlight=
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:06 PM) you’ll need to register
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:06 PM) its really easy to get you simply use google lol
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:11 PM) ouch it’s just a cracked copy of the steam version
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:12 PM) and by using it i take risks of seeing my steam account shut down
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:13 PM) i’m not at ease with that :s
Keitaro Icon : (Today, 03:28 PM) is it possible to get a refund as the order was not what i was expecting, and so don’t want to put my steam account in peril ?
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:40 PM) no its not a cracked copy of the steam version its a bloody retail dvd
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:40 PM) and no refunds you should have looked at the icons saying no steam before you bought
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:41 PM) i have retail dvd version and it works fine
ElItE_HaXoR Icon : (Today, 03:41 PM) and it will have nothing to do with your steam account anyway
I can backup KeitaroBaka’s story above. I too got FEAR2 from OKS and was told to get the game from a warez site.
However, the guy from OKS is right about the game not being linked to your Steam account. Not sure there ever was a non-Steam version of FEAR2, but these warez versions are uncoupled from Steam, you don’t even have to start Steam to play. So there’s no risk of getting banned.
Still, I agree that this is indeed very fishy. What’s more, once you get a warez version you don’t even NEED a keycode anymore to play online (don’t know how this works exactly, but at no point was I asked for a key). So in the end you end up with a pirated copy of the game with the consolation that you have a supposedly valid copy somewhere.
Doesn’t do it for me, I’m afraid. In the future I’ll just stay away from anything not branded “Steam” or “EA Download Manager” on OKS.
I am very tempted to get Dawn of War II for Steam from OKS, though. Can anyone assure me that there’s absolutely no risk that these keys are illegal and that my account is safe?
I wont go again to OKS. Okay they link you to a cracked copy with maybe a valid serial. BUT i don’t wan’t to use a cracked game that has maybe some kind of protection still running and then mess with my account. That’s not an option.
Coren if you want DoW2 i suggest you to try http://www.noobkeys.com/
The site may look like shit, but I got my DoW2 key from here, and activated on steam. Still no probleme after 3 months. I also got BF2 and BF2142 from there and still no problem too.
I’ve got the same problem with FEAR 2 cd-key from OKS, and I make some search: the cd-key is from DLGamer, you need the DLGamer version for play, good luck for find it…
I’ve myself bought a DoW2 and, afterward, a L4D cd-keys from http://www.directgamekeys.com and, as another user mentioned above, the cd-keys received were as described, both registered to my Steam account and the games are downloading right now. They send you a scan of the cd-key which releaved me from all my suspicions.
You should give it a shot too.
From G2Play’s website
G2PLAY.net has also aquired the veteran CD Keys selling website CDKeyheaven.com (since2005!). The website is now redirected to G2PLAY.net and all CDKeyheaven.com customers are now welcomed to G2PLAY.net.
[...] Steam Alternatives [...]
bought at dlgamer silverfall, DRM on it… No information about it was available….
What do you think about http://eu.xfirestore.com/ ?
G2Play.net sold me a STOLEN Direct2Drive key for FIFA10. My EA Download Manager got suspended under accusation of fraud and EA isn’t reactivating my account, so I’m not getting it back. That means I lost all games I had registered. I strongly advise against any deals G2Play has to offer!
Master_Zica I’m sorry to hear that, that’s why we put G2Play in Buy at your own risk section.
Maybe EA banned it because it was a key from Asia?
Do never buy from CDkey-Game.com, it is fraud and they are criminals! I bought Company of Heroes as a Steam gift and paid with Paypal. After 3 month Steam removed the game from my list because it was gifted by CDkey-Game.com by a stolen credit card. The owner of the shop kobe “kobe@cdkey-game.com” never react to my complaining mails. Paypal did not make any action because the transaction was to long ago. So I lost my money, at least Steam did not disabled my complete account, they only removed the game from my list. I’m concerned that all this cheap selling key shops are not very serious.
Kind Regards comlab
XFire Game Store is powered by Metaboli. So you may remove it from the list? It’s the save service with differnt stylesheets
[...] aici la pret mai mult decat decent. Pentru a vedea ce alte site-uri sunt de acest fel, intrati aici Steam Alternatives – Steam Unpowered . Aceste site-uri au fost atent verficate si deci, sunt de incredere, nu teapa. Nu fac nici un fel [...]
For German Users is Gamerdeals-Shop a good Choice. Keys with good Prices !!
Havent bought any game from XFIRE game store yet, but i have been watching it for some time, their prices is kind of weird, i was tempted to buy dow 2 cause they set their price to 15 euro. And i was thinking: wow what a sweet deal!.
But waited see if it was cheaper other places.
Never should have done that, cause they raised their price to 19,99 euro close to the other sites “powered by metaboli”. I didnt notice before, but they had the “powered by metaboli” logo on their site, dont know when they got that.
And today i see their prices was raised to 29,99 euro :/ far above the price other places, powered by metaboli.
But worst of it, Dow 2 is in the xfire “deal” section
, what an deal?
I just dont get it. Why so high price for that little piece of short game. The game ain’t worth 29,99 euro, i dont even think the game itself is worth 15 euro, if it wasnt for the graphic max 7-10 euro for it. But unfortunately 15 euro was the cheapest i could find.
Just wanted to try that survival stuff. For me its like a minigame. Get entertained one day and never play again.
Company of heroes much better game, more replay value, and greater price reduction. And best of all, the choice between retail or steam version.
[...] outras plataformas que fazem coisas muito parecidas com ele, entre eles o GameTap, o GreenHouse, o Direct2Drive etc. [...]
I’m just curious: is the situation with G2play still the same? it’s still “Buy at your own risk”?
Do people still complain?
Because it advertises a lot, especially on this site. Informations about promotion on their shop go to weekend deals, and so on.
If not – why do you promote uncertain shop?
If it’s cleared move it to trusted alternatives shops.
I’ve just bought Warcraft III and Starcraft Battle Chest there, paid via Paypal. Everything went OK, I activated, downloaded and installed the games. They play fine. It was a real bargain.
Just purchased a couple of days ago Saints Row 2 from G2Play. It worked grate and I received the Steam code fast. The only problem was that is the cut German version (it is also specified on the site) so you don’t have any blood, bodies disappear very fast and the worst is that you can’t change the language of the game from German to English.
Luckily they also have a link to a patch that resolves all of those problems.
I would like to correct your lsit, as Gametap’s definitely not US only.
thanks
Hi again,
Although I don’t have any experience with this site, and their games seem to be mostly German, but they have a huge catalogue with fair prices, so it’s worth a look:
http://www.gamesload.de
Add http://bit.ly/Direct2Drive_eu .
Hi! Why do impulse link is secured http? (https)
FEAR2 digital download?
http://bit.ly/cNlN22
directgamekeys.com
dont know anything about it though.. some guys posted a comment about it here
@joeangry
Thanks, fixed the Impulse link
@Rad86N
Added DirectGameKey.com to “Buy at your own risk”, thanks for the info.
Bought Bad Company 2(EADM Download) at http://www.gamekeydistrict.com, got the key the same day.
A week later I lost the game on EADM.
just bought a steam game at directgamekeys.com
the shop had the lowest price on net i could find and with the coupon “TLOW” i even got additional 10% off.
about half an hour later i recieved a mail with a photo of the games cdcase, the cd itself and its (or should i rather say “some”) keys. though the originally game (shown me at the photo) came from russia it does work fine and i had no problems activating it in steam.
I’ve also bought two games from directgamekeys.com
DoW2 Steam Key several months ago and ME2 EADM key a few days ago. Both worked great, without any problems.. Delivery took some hours but still acceptable speed.
I’d buy again everytime, full recommendation
I am still wondering if anyone has tried http://www.gamesload.de or not.
I just don’t want to be the first to do that.
[...] Há outras plataformas que fazem coisas muito parecidas com ele, entre eles o GameTap, o GreenHouse, o Direct2Drive etc. Eu nunca experimentei nenhum desses, pois o Steam sempre me manteve satisfeito, e também nunca ouvi falar de ninguém que prefira algum dos concorrentes. A maioria dos que baixam estas outras opções, o faz para aproveitar algum jogo bem específico que esteja em promoção em algum concorrente do Steam, mas não nele. [...]
I don’t know about the game key pages. Isn’t that sort of illegal or at least very grey? Also, I found another list here that has some additional shops listed: http://blog.deals4downloads.com/2010/05/04/steam-competition-a-list-of-steam_alternatives/
Just bought a Settlers 7 key from directgamekeys.com for 20 USD, while I did not get a picture of the key the key itself works perfectly with Ubisoft (it does NOT work with Steam, but that was correctly mentioned in the shop). Took 2 hours for delivery, no problems, friendly support. Used paypal to pay (moneybookers is an alternative way of payment they accept).
has someone tried http://ecdkey.com/ ?
anyone tried http://www.cjs-cdkeys.com/ ??
i tried cjs cdkeys… MW2, it took a while to deliver (like a month x_x) because they had issues or something. But then I got working key which is still working now (after 5 months or something). Didn’t bought there a second time, because of the long deliver time, but since they’ve got auto collection system now, they might be a considerable alternative.
My proposal is to add http://www.cjs-cdkeys.com/ into Verified and 100% Guaranteed stores, why ? Before minutes ago I’ve posted here: http://bit.ly/dg7L2b . You can read there.
So far no problems, no revokes, no complaints. You can see also their http://bit.ly/CJS_Sales_Reviews Google Checkout Reviews ~500 satisfied customers so far from all countries around the world, huh !
Yeah, no store can’t have any problems with some orders, but in the background of so many satisfied customers, that’s nuthin’. And yeah, I’m also from the customers, who’re buyin’ from it from Nov 2010 till now.
Conclusion:
Excellent support, fast delivery, great prices, 100% satisfied customer !
That’s all folks from me.
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