the only thing i hate about the rise of steam gaming is the loss of owning physical media since you can’t by physical copies of steam deck games.
that’s true but i think compared to most other consoles nowadays it goes a very sustainable path. valve does nothing to prevent you from running gog games, which are true digital ownership at least. i know physical media are the most tangible option in the moment, but in the long run blurays for example actually have a limited lifespan
Steam hasn’t (afaik) revoked access from a game that someone already owns, and DRM on steam is entirely optional, even if you use the steamworks sdk. (source: I am a developer making a game using the steamworks sdk that can run without steam open or installed)
Is it ownership you’re worried about? There are other ways to have backups. Also, aren’t most PC games digital?
most of the time i play switch and ps5, which i can get physical copies though. i just like to have them given the way a lot of streaming companies have just pulled content without warning.
edit: also that brings us to another point; you used to be able to go in and buy boxed pc games in the store all the time
I’d argue that the problem with non-physical releases is mainly conservation, and software pirates seem to have that covered for PC releases.
Now if you wanna buy a game, DRM free is of course preferable. I buy as much as I can from gog, because I don’t want to blindly trust any corporation, regardless of their past record. After all, valve is set up in a way that gives them all the leverage.