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Comment by dartharva | Hacker News Reader

GOG exists. Blu-ray discs of movies, shows and music exist. Even when consumers have the option to buy from those modes, they don't. They prefer Steam and Netflix and Spotify instead.

Why? Because contrary to the opinion of a couple of online aficionados, the masses don't care that much about preserving media after they have consumed them once, or once the trend has subsided. The market has spoken, the affordability and convenience of not having to manage one's own collection beats the slight lack of guarantee.

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Steam doesn’t really compare to Netflix and Spotify - it’s not a subscription service where you can play whatever is currently available and titles appear and disappear with no notice.

You buy individual games on Steam and it stays on your account indefinitely - you do have to pick and choose what you buy.

Something like Microsoft’s Game Pass is closer to Netflix and Spotify than Steam.

Steam is more like the old iTunes Music Store model.

> Steam doesn’t really compare to Netflix and Spotify - it’s not a subscription service where you can play whatever is currently available and titles appear and disappear with no notice.

This is true, you don't need to pay an ongoing subscription for continued access to the games.

> You buy individual games on Steam and it stays on your account indefinitely - you do have to pick and choose what you buy.

But I'm very wary of that "indefinitely". Steam doesn't set an expiration date but they can do it at a moment's notice. Save goes for any store where the purchase (rental?) is permanently tied to the store.

Ah, I was meaning "indefinitely" in the sense of "an unspecified period of time" :)

Practically, it's very rare for games to disappear from a Steam library once purchased. It happens for stolen/fraudulently purchased keys (eg keys bought with stolen credit cards), but for a whole game it's very rare.

It has happened, but generally for games that relied on online servers for functionality and the servers have been taken down.

> Blu-ray discs of movies, shows and music exist

For now. Everything Everywhere All At Once never got a physical release here in the UK. Considering it won best picture that is insane to me.

Similarly, a lot of prestige shows that are either produced by streaming companies or distributed by streaming companies outside the US never get physical releases.

I’m not saying you’re wrong—you’re dead right—but it bums me out.

GOG doesn't sell most games. I do buy on GOG when possible, but GOG sells a sliver of what Steam sells.

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