I noticed Gamers Gate also sells games online, but I have never bought any from them. They do not exactly make it easy to see if there are any downsides to using them.

What do you all think of Gamers Gate? How do they compare to Steam? What is the downside of buying from them?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

DRM!

I almost bought a mafia game from them I really wanted. The DRM didn't get me but their lack of a downloader did. Trying to download anything of any size without being able to stop and start from where I left off is impossible.

It is the worst "-gate" scandal in history! The people involved should be ashamed!

What mostly threw me off was their *complete* lack of quality control. I've seen games with ripped resources being sold there, I've seen prices of games (particularly those with a questionable legal situation) skip around dozens of times a day, from $20 to $3 to $9 etc.. Maybe the situation has improved since then but it didn't leave the kind of impression I expect from a popular and legit distributor.

Then I feel that there's a lack of information on the DRM, IIRC you can end up unknowingly buying a game with an activation limit if you just go by the things you see in the official description. There's chance that I just missed something but I ended up buying a game with an activation limit once. I *would* use GamersGate again if it happened to be the only distributor with a game I really want to have but I wouldn't ever pick GamersGate when I can get the same game from Steam, GOG or directly from the developer.

They DO have a downloader...

Actually thats exactly what you do with the exe files you download from them - you can pause and restart at any time.

* * * * *

To the OP, I actually kinda like GG, but it aint flawless:

PROS;
Some great deals on games for steam etc (if thats your thing)
You tend to know what (if any) DRM is on the games you get before you buy.
Some DRM free games / minimal DRM games downloadable from GG also come with keys for other services (handy for some in certain situations too).
Blue coins you get for reviews, purchases etc can be used to buy more games.
They have games unavailable here.

CONS;
The site is a bit bloated for load times for me, and the layout aint great.
I get pretty confused looking through my games on there.
The "social" aspects of the profiles feel a little too like some wierd MySpaz plugin or summat.
The community is overseen by our own Licurg III of Sacrificio who will stop at nothing to purge the world of anything but Sacrifice, and will Sacrifice his army to destroy you unless you buy Sacrifice.

One of the things I hate about GamersGate is the amount of games that have as DRM Steamworks, when they have DRM-free versions in pretty much any other store. For example, Hotline Miami.

I do buy from GamersGate but mostly games that are going to either never show up here such as Explodermon (before it became a Steam exclusive), or are listed as DRM-free / offline activations such as the Titan Quest games.

I also use them as a very cheep Steam key reseller. I bought all the extra DLC for my HB Magicka from there in a 75% sale and I will probably pick up XCOM: Enemy Unknown from them when it drops below £9. Unfortunately that is more likely then T2 allowing GOG to sell it (where I would happily pay the £25 asking price) and I cannot be bothered to buy a PS3.

EDIT :::
If GG were a little more forthcoming like ShinyLoot are about their DRM then I might use them more, but right now they are only for the odd game as they have very questionable DRM categorising skills.

Not a terrible store. Some good deals from time to time.

They're okay for Steam keys and whenever they have a glitch.

I like them. Their customer support kicks ass. They really care about their customers.

I like the store and have bought about 25 games from them. They have sales fairly often and can have some really cheap stuff that is worth taking a look at. Plus the blue coins do add up over time to help pick up a game or two.

Bunch of DRM free games others places dont have, GlitchGate they screw up the sale price and people get a game for >95% off)happens every so often. Contrary to opinion, Steamworked games only forms part of their catalogue (use the filters) surprisingly - thought woulda been more.Bulk of the games however generally use Other DRM. Get the odd drm free game from them (sometimes their steam games are cheaper than other places when on sale) but wouldnt say i use them much.

But basically, they sell keys for Uplay, Steam etc., so the only thing you need to compare then is the price.

They are a reliable seller, as far as I've experienced.

edit: be mindful of their shitty "DRM-free" definition