My purchases from Steam dropped by at least 90% over the last years

I dislike that you don't know how long something is going to be available on Game Pass unless it's a first-party exclusive, there have been several occasions where I've started playing something only for it to be announced-as-leaving a few days later. In one case I was able to rush to finish the game, but ultimately I've realised I don't love subscription models (especially for games). I'd rather purchase, physically if possible for consoles.

I have the most powerful PC I ever had so far, the fastest internet that I didn't dare imagine just a few years ago (natural way of things, not bragging just stating for comparison with previous decades)... and I'm still buying less than ever on Steam, bundles or anywhere else. Main reasons are time available to play and the lack of quality review source I could trust to base my purchase upon. Most media doesn't dig for hidden gems anymore, and oversells AAA that ends up being mediocre at best. As I'm not pirating the games, that leaves me with playing "nothing" in the end.

i deadass dont buy anything on steam since this last ui update they forced on us, i hate steam now as it has become the bloatware that all other launchers are

Yes, i buy less due to inflation making or currency more or less worthless.

Game Pass offers a great value for sure but I don't really care. I want to play the games I'm in the mood for, whenever and whatever that is.
My Steam purchases peaked in 2019 but were pretty stable at a high level in the past 4 years.

I'm spending more than ever, and I really hate myself for it.

Steam increased prices for games 3x here, and even before that the big AAA publishers charged USD prices or more. Only thing I get are indies and maybe DLCs.

Yep, I barely buy anything at all thanks to the «fixed» regional prices. Steam has basically abandoned the majority of poorer markets, games just stopped being affordable.

I think game pass is good for new gamers, but not for those who own or played most of the games on game pass's library and not interested in others.

During the last ~1.5 year I've primarily been gifting games (both on and off SG) which are only available directly on the Steam Store, so technically I've been "purchasing on Steam" a lot more during that period than... ever.
Yikes, I've seriously let myself go in the stinginess department. O_o

Yeah, I definitely get it. Game passes are an absurdly good deal and cloud gaming is only gonna get better as time goes on.
It really doesn't make sense for me to buy games directly from Steam after their regional pricing update last year, somehow the game prices in my region skyrocketed to 2nd most expensive worldwide in many cases (esp indie games) and they don't reflect the average salary in my country at all. Even the BIG Steam Sales are disappointing, It's actually hard to find a game that's not cheaper somewhere else.

The 3rd party bundles and grey market resellers are the last saving grace but even these are getting more expensive these days...

I don't buy bundles anymore and I get games when they have a) a decent discount and b) I really can see myself playing them... at one point... in the far future. That's why I buy less than let's say 5 years ago, but since then it's more or less stable. Personally not interested in game pass as there's nothing worse than to force myself to play a game because it might become unavailable.

Buying on Steam directly is mostly for people for whom money is no objective. If you're using any price comparison site you'll notice Steam comes up as the cheapest offer rarely and I'm talking of official Steam key retailers only. Grey market is another story entirely.

Steam client may be bloated but most users seem to like the many features and at present RAM is so cheap I don't mind if Steam gobbles up a few GB. From my perspective the client could be written in cuneiform as I only use launch, screenshot and big picture mode when using a controller for some games.

I only buy directly on Steam if there is something that I want to play right now. Otherwise, I'm happy with bundles and I'll find something to play there. Not that I buy many of those now.

I have a GFN sub so that I can play some of the games I already own that won't run on my mac. And recent Steam updates are making my old computer work harder, so even games that will run easily on my machine are now being played through GFN. Steam has crashed my times recently and that never happened before. I dunno what they've done to the client.

(Oh and UPS lost my new computer during the week. Pricks. Now I have to wait for their investigation. Probably stolen when it arrived in Dublin since that was it's last scan.)

Well, Steam was never the best place to buy from anyway, if you wanted the best prices. 99% of the time, other online stores have better offers. For me, I decided to completely stop buying games I think in like May or smt, from both Steam and non-steam sources (Humble, Fanatical, GMG, trading, free games and giveaways). I already have enough unplayed ones that I don't really feel any kind of urge to buy more. And if I do happen to see a game I really really really want to play, like as soon as I press PURCHASE, I'll only be buying those kinds of games from Steam. It's mainly cuz I like the Steam logo that's present on the review you write, plus the review counts for the %, while if you wrote one for a game you used a key for, it won't count for the Steam Review Score.

I'm supposed to buy less (due to worsening global inflation and co) but I'm actually buying more. I never liked the idea of game pass because I want to play a game knowing that I own it permanently.
Truth is many of us got poorer and this is something that was accelerated (and not started) by COVID.

I buy the games that are on a sale I like or in bundles, and I play the games I am currently in the mood for. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a story game, sometimes for a bullet hell, sometimes for a racing game, sometimes for a visual novel, sometimes for a point and click and sometimes for a puzzle or hidden object game, etc.

Seems they have 470 games currently on game pass, so I'd find myself in a tight spot of what if I already played many of these and I don't crave something else they got but I crave something else that's on steam but I didn't get it on sale. At the same time for their sub price, I wonder how many more games they can add to it.

I already have a decent library, and something like game pass wouldn't do much for me, although if you just want to play the newest AAA it's not a bad deal, assuming you got nothing else to play and you're okay with not being able to come back to it unless you spend another $10 or more for the bigger plans.

Also even if you don't really own your games with steam, they have claimed that in the case they ever shut down, they'd provide a period in which you could download all the games in your library so you can keep them. They've claimed this multiple times but here's another quick one I found on google:

So in the end, I consider game pass to be for someone who doesn't a big enough library to say they have a backlog, someone who can't or doesn't find it reasonable to pay individually to get the games they want constantly, someone who wants to play new aaa titles, or someone who plays games 16 hours a day and doesn't have the money to keep buying them, although at that rate they'll go through the game pass pretty quick.

View attached image.

No, not really. But i've never bought much directly from Steam anyways. If anything i've started buying more on Steam recently, just to give away to people.

I do buy a lot less on Steam these days. On the rare occasion I'll be buying something full price or if it's a new title that I simply can't wait for then Steam is the go to for their stellar refund policy. Most of the time I grab something from bundles or legit retailers since the discounts are often higher. I also split purchases between PC and consoles depending on the type of game and availability. I'm rarely concerned with FOMO though so I'm willing to wait for most things. Trade offs I suppose.

I tried Game Pass years ago when you could get a trial for $1. It's not a bad service and I believe it's a good consumer choice type of deal. I do often prefer to have a copy of whatever available at any time I desire though.

I still buy games primarily on Steam, though I mainly buy keys from other stores and bundles rather than through the Steam store. After Valve got rid of inventory gifting I started buying stuff mostly elsewhere.

I like the concept of GOG and DRM free games, but their client just isn't as good and the lack of Linux support is a real dealbreaker. Also I buy more games now with the Steam Deck in mind.

Overall I'd say I buy fewer games, mostly because I have so many that I haven't finished yet and also the sale discounts aren't as good as they used to be.

less in quantity more in quality for me