Do you use any of the “other” digital stores? How has your experience been?

Atm, I’m personally wondering about Fanatical. Is it ok?

I’ve stuck to Steam, Humble, and Gog but I do wonder about those other stores like Greenmangaming or Razer sometimes.

I use GMG all the time. I've never had an issue with them. One small gripe I guess is that if you're pre-ordering something, you don't get your key until release so there's no pre-load available.

I used Razer once because it was the cheapest place to get Ghost Recon at the time of the store launching and I haven't used them since. Mostly because I completely forgot about the service and they never send me emails to try entice me to buy anything there.

GMG is basically like Humble, it's just another place to get Steam keys. It might be worth checking out if you're into getting games when they come out, since GMG is all about limited-time coupons and stuff like that.

Didn't have any trouble with gmg yet. Had to wait for a day or so for my keys with fanatical on one or two occassions, purportedly because of "extra security checks" or whatever, but always gotten my keys. Had a pretty good experience with voidu this year. Generally I think the stores listed on isthereanydeal.com tend to be mostly trustworthy.

I’ve really only spent money on Steam, GOG, Humble Store, and Green Man Gaming.

All seem to work fine. I’m a GOG and Humble guy, then Steam. I’ll use GMG for the right deal.

Nothing against any of them, they’re all fine services.

I have used them. UPlay and Origin are just steam with less content, although between them Origin is the best, by far...

I have used humble and gog, no problems there.

Another one that I use is called nuuvem, which is exclusive to south america. Never had a problem with them and, since the prices are in Brazilian reals, sometimes I can get some pretty crazy "sales" due to exchange differences (for example, Soul Calibur 6 is 45 US$, and Division 2 and Odyssey are less than 40 US$).

I've used GreenManGaming on occasion when the prices have been better and it seems like a pretty solid option. I don't know how they obtain their keys but I've never had issues when using them on Steam and the pricing has been competitive enough to get me to shop with them from time to time.

Honestly, I'll stick with the basics. There are a lot of testimonies that GreenManGaming is pretty good. I purchased a few games from them ages ago and had no problems, but I still didn't like using them all that much. I'll continue to use Steam or GOG when I can and Origin/Uplay/Battle.net when I can't. Or Humble when it's really cheap.

I can't say that I've ever heard of Fanatical, so I can't speak to that, but as far as I can tell most of the third-party storefronts are pretty solid these days (haven't tried Discord's yet). I would be wary of key resellers as keys can and will be revoked if the publisher doesn't like where they turn up, but so long as you avoid any super suspicious "I got COD for ten bucks on release day" type deals you'll probably be ok.

I don't use it as often as GMG but I've had nothing but good experiences with Fanatical.

@rorie: I hadn't heard of Fanatical either but I guess Fanatical was previously known as Bundle Stars, which sounds more familiar.

@efesell: Cool, thanks.

bundlestars was legit. Fanatical is as well. Just steer clear from G2A, Kinguin & CDKeys

I've used Fanatical a few times and haven't run into any problems. I have often seen them partner with Polygon, like for a Two-Point Hospital bundle, so that gave me some confidence to try them out. I have used GMG quite a few times and have always had a good experience with them as well.

I have used Fanatical for years, since its days as Bundle Stars. I in fact just recently purchased a bundle from them earlier this week. Had no issues whatsoever. They are a licensed Steam partner, so you can link your account like with Humble and just hit the activate button when you get your keys and they will activate on Steam. I do know that occasionally they flag orders for further review, but that has never occurred for me. I believe it happens when there is some reason to doubt the validity of the account you are paying with. Beyond that (it usually takes a day or two to receive your keys if that happens) I haven't heard of any other issues. I will say that the majority of their bundles feature far less worthwhile games than on Humble. They give you the games for usually over 90% off. The bundle I just got was over 99% off. It cost me a dollar for 20+ old DOS games that are running for $5 a piece of Steam. Mind you almost all of them have been trash so far, but even if I only like a couple it would still be worthwhile. And occasionally they have bundles that include some higher quality games. I know they've done some stuff with Warner Bros in the past for example. So I wouldn't worry with them.

I will reiterate what others have said, that it is risky to use key resellers like Kinguin or G2A, but any company that has been approved by Valve shouldn't have issues. That includes Fanatical as well as Green Man Gaming and Humble. And as others have said, the publisher specific stores all work well enough. I like how achievements give you discounts and in game goods on UPlay, and Origin's $5 a month subscription service is absolutely worth the price if you are a fan of EA's titles, and they have begun including indie games on it as well. Can't say I've had a bad experience with any of the current major players. GOG of course is fine and maybe the most secure since there is no DRM so you have your games even if the service goes down.

But Fanatical is just fine. Worth it if you want some of the games included in their bundles especially.

Razer, Fanatical and GMG are perfectly fine, nothing shady about them, 100% legit. I've never had any problems with cdkeys.com either but it seems more on the level of G2A or something so ymmv.

I stick with Steam and GOG. I used Humble several years back before they started doing non-game software, books, and whatever else they're up to these days. Never had a need to check out any other service.

@zombiepenguin9: There may not be a need to use the other stores but sometimes there’s great deals on certain stores and nowhere else.

As others have mentioned: Steam, Humble, Green Man, Origin, and Uplay. But as for grey markets, I'll vouch for CDKeys since I've been using them since late 2015 and never got a bad key.

Steam, Humble, GOG, Origin, Uplay and Battle.net. I more or less but everything I can on Steam, and use the others when I can’t. I bought AC Odyssey on Uplay recently because it was much cheaper.

I'd like to add a minor quibble about GMG. They have been good so far but they have recently and on a case by case basis instead of selling keys they are linking your account to your the launcher/service account and activating it in a way where you will never see a key. I can see the reasoning for this and I imagine a platform holder might have had a hand in changing GMG policy so that keys aren't freely bought and sold via GMG as a middle man for some unscrupulous resale racket. But It does continue to erode the practically non-existent idea of owning software a step further but not letting you see the key associated with the product. But that said it is one of the better stores sans launcher(defunct capsule launcher not withstanding).

@merxworx01: Was it a Uplay key? I've found that to be the case lately with any Uplay games, they're just being activated automatically to a linked account.

I only ever get real keys when its Steam though.

I mostly buy through non-Steam marketplaces these days (though still usually winding up with Steam keys), mainly because Steam’s sale prices ain’t what they used to be. I typically use Humble (because the flat 10% discount you get as a monthly subscriber is Very Good) or GMG if there’s a particularly steep price cut. I’ll occasionally use GOG but I’m mostly interested in newer or bigger games than that marketplace tends to feature.

@efesell: Yup. My most recent GMG purchase was for a Uplay Game and it required account linking. So I wasn't sure if any other platform holder was doing this.

@liquiddragon: I've used GMG many times in the past without a problem. They were even kind enough to offer refunds during the Batman Arkham Asylum debacle despite them technically not allowing refunds on their platform. I also thought their approach to address concerns of key-providers was an adequate one so customers will know whether or not they're supporting the developer/publisher directly or not.

That being said, in the past year or so I've switched all my purchases over to GOG or Steam. GOG where possible since it's DRM-free and I like supporting them. Otherwise, Steam due to the awesome Steam refund policy. I never abuse the refund policy, but it's a nice comfort knowing it's there in the event a PC port launches with some serious issues (and I'm usually not that picky about my PC ports).

@haneybd87: That's true, and probably worth utilizing in a lot of cases. I usually buy my PC games during the Steam and GOG seasonal sales when they're already heavily discounted, so I've just never looked into anything else.

@raven10: Thanks for the lowdown on Fanatical. I tried them out and it was smooth. Rebel Galaxy, Punch Club, and Grey Goo for a dollar!

@liquiddragon: I don't buy from them super often, but if you happen to be in the market for a couple games in one of their bundles you can't beat their prices and my experience has also always been smooth and reliable.

It's a basic store.

You buy a game, they send you a key.

Youd get a much much much cheaper deal on G2A, or kinguin, or cd keys, or a number of other sites like that.

Just be aware it's like ebay, you're buying from a person not company.

Just read description carefully so you dont buy a key out of your country code.

Those sites are my go to places to buy games now. Saved me a TON of money.

People complain about those sites legitimacy all the time but I never had a problem, and;

Hitman 2 pre order= $20.

(Money talks BS walks)