It's that time of year again. The Steam Summer Sale is here, discounting plenty of PC games that you've had on your wishlist for years. Running from now until July 10th at 10am PT, you can grab tons of cheap games, install them on your Steam Deck, and forget you ever owned them, thus inflating your backlog tenfold. At least, if you can get past the Steam servers crashing from how many users are buying games. Some of the highlighted titles on the front page are Grounded, from Xbox Game Studios, Horizon Forbidden West, from Sony Interactive Entertainment, indie darling Balatro, and thousands more.

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[RedoLane]

Aaaaaand it's already a technical mess. can't even check my wishlist, and it's even worse on the Steam Deck.
Hope it's fixed ASAP since I'm planning to go through a shopping spree.

 

[Scarlet]

Aaaaaand it's already a technical mess. can't even check my wishlist, and it's even worse on the Steam Deck.
Hope it's fixed ASAP since I'm planning to go through a shopping spree.

It's pretty much always like this for the first few hours. Just give it until tomorrow morning for the hype to die down and it'll be fine.

 

[NotUsingAnAltAccount]

Unfortunately, I'm not renting games.

 

[Jayro]

Unfortunately, I'm not renting games.

I guess it's a good thing Steam isn't a game rental service then...

What a stupid comment to make.

 

[YoureALoser]

Unfortunately, I'm not renting games.

Nor am I. When PC games stopped receiving physical releases, I stopped supporting game studios. Digital only is 100% renting. Games can be delisted at any time. No point in buying games that use servers either, because those servers can permanently go offline at any time. If I can not pirate it, I will not play it.

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2025

I guess it's a good thing Steam isn't a game rental service then...

What a stupid comment to make.

What a stupid comment to make. Steam is a game rental service. You do not own digital games, just like you do not own digital music, shows, movies etc.

 

[SecureBoot]

Nor am I. When PC games stopped receiving physical releases, I stopped supporting game studios. Digital only is 100% renting. Games can be delisted at any time. No point in buying games that use servers either, because those servers can permanently go offline at any time. If I can not pirate it, I will not play it.

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2025

What a stupid comment to make. Steam is a game rental service. You do not own digital games, just like you do not own digital music, shows, movies etc.

So do you just... Not play games? Does Steam have a track record of revoking licenses? If you have a license get revoked than you should absolutely pirate that shit, but how about support the art you consume? What a moronic stance. If you're a kid or are just in a rough spot and don't have the disposable income I get it, I've been there. But this comment reads as if you just aren't willing to buy things and are using DVDs to justify it

 

[ZeroT21]

Getting digital games from a Steam sale is still my preferred choice, besides the occasional day one purchases. Probably the worse deal/purchase on steam right now is Monster Hunter Wilds as the pc version is just unplayable unless you have top tier pc hardware, but still suffers from performance issues

 

[NotUsingAnAltAccount]

I guess it's a good thing Steam isn't a game rental service then...

What a stupid comment to make.

Oh really? Then what is it? Please, enlighten me.

 

[Jayro]

Oh really? Then what is it? Please, enlighten me.

You get to keep it, it stays in your library. It's not like it gets returned to them after two weeks.

 

[NotUsingAnAltAccount]

Nor am I. When PC games stopped receiving physical releases, I stopped supporting game studios. Digital only is 100% renting. Games can be delisted at any time. No point in buying games that use servers either, because those servers can permanently go offline at any time. If I can not pirate it, I will not play it.

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2025

What a stupid comment to make. Steam is a game rental service. You do not own digital games, just like you do not own digital music, shows, movies etc.

I just buy on GOG if something good shows up, other than that I just buy physical copies for consoles that are fully on media.

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2025

You get to keep it, it stays in your library. It's not like it gets returned to them after two weeks.

No, this doesn't anwer the question I'm asking.

 

[Robert Newbie]

Pricing practices over the years have really put a damper on my enthusiasm for Steam Seasonal Sales, but I can't help but get a little excited, when they come around.

Good luck finding some good deals, tempers.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

Is it actually good?

 

[Jayro]

No, this doesn't anwer the question I'm asking.

Then you're asking the question wrong, because I just told you how Steam works.

 

[NotUsingAnAltAccount]

Then you're asking the question wrong, because I just told you how Steam works.

No, it's you not knowing the answer and trying to avoid it by replying something that actually confirms what Steam is and reassuring me that you shouldn't reply to someone's comment if you don't know how to back up your earlier statement properly.

P.S. Oh and in my first comment I didn't notice anything stupid, just truth.

 

[Maximo101]

I just hope I can get in on the sale before all the games are sold out

 

[GengarsGhostlyGiggles]

Yea I like Steam, the comment about 'renting'/leasing your games does ring true.

If I have a choice between a game on Steam or GOG, it's always GOG because they have a page where you can download the game installers so you longer need their network or system. Once you have the installer files, it feels like a good balance between the physical media age and the digital age.

 

[SecureBoot]

No, it's you not knowing the answer and trying to avoid it by replying something that actually confirms what Steam is and reassuring me that you shouldn't reply to someone's comment if you don't know how to back up your earlier statement properly.

P.S. Oh and in my first comment I didn't notice anything stupid, just truth.

I think you have a wrong definition of renting. Renting is when you borrow something for a fee and the agreement of borrowing it is that you will return it on a specific date. You can't "rent" something like a U-haul and keep it until the company takes it back. You "rent" an apartment for a set term and then renew that contract at the end. With subscription services, you "rent" the content available until your term expires.

With Steam, there is no end date set on your license. Therefore, rental is not an appropriate term here

 

[Gbasam64]

Yea I like Steam, the comment about 'renting'/leasing your games does ring true.

If I have a choice between a game on Steam or GOG, it's always GOG because they have a page where you can download the game installers so you longer need their network or system. Once you have the installer files, it feels like a good balance between the physical media age and the digital age.

I’m the opposite, maybe it’s because I put too much trust into steam. Or maybe it’s because I already have a sizeable collection and it feels nice to have everything in one place

 

[Xzi]

Digital only is 100% renting. Games can be delisted at any time.

I'm not sure what you think "delisted" means, but that's only from the storefront, never from your library. I can still download and play Deadpool and Blur any time I want, for example. We're well past twenty years of Steam existing now, and plenty of physical games (especially disc-based ones) have stopped functioning in that same time frame. So while I understand the sentiment, the reality of long-term game ownership doesn't quite line up.