Saw someone else here or another thread about this make a great point: It’s not the digital nature of the thing, it’s where and who is storing it. Steam used to have a way of backing up installs yourself; if it’s still a thing, I have no idea where it’s hidden now. GOG is the only place I know that still allows this, with their DRM free installer executables.
I don’t necessarily need to buy the games on a disk, but I sure would like the ability to archive them myself in the event the business storing my shit goes under or randomly decides to no longer store my shit. That was my biggest concern with Steam back when it launched (i resisted moving to the platform until the very last hour of WON being shut down and Steam became the ONLY way to play CS), but, again, it used to let you do this hella easily.
Saw someone else here or another thread about this make a great point: It’s not the digital nature of the thing, it’s where and who is storing it. Steam used to have a way of backing up installs yourself; if it’s still a thing, I have no idea where it’s hidden now. GOG is the only place I know that still allows this, with their DRM free installer executables.
I don’t necessarily need to buy the games on a disk, but I sure would like the ability to archive them myself in the event the business storing my shit goes under or randomly decides to no longer store my shit. That was my biggest concern with Steam back when it launched (i resisted moving to the platform until the very last hour of WON being shut down and Steam became the ONLY way to play CS), but, again, it used to let you do this hella easily.
Library -> Game context menu -> Manage -> Back up game files…
The game files are just directories you can archive however you want anyway. No stinky ‘installer executables’ necessary. (:
Glad to hear this is still a thing. Like a total unc I keep a txt file of every game I own in the event I need to “buy it again” later.
They’re less known, but ZOOM-Platform are DRM free for everything, and given you the offline installers.
https://www.zoom-platform.com/
You can back up your Xbox digital games at least via transferring them to an external drive. Not sure about PS, they’re always more restrictive.