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Why would anyone [popular thing], especially when [personal preference]?

If the question is why would anyone buy directly on Steam, if keys are available from Humble or other re-sellers for a lower price?...

There are only two answers I can think of:

1) you can use Steam wallet funds
2) you can request a refund under Valve's refund policy

How about installing GOG Galaxy 2.0 so you can have all your games on the same platform (you still need the launchers though)

I like to keep my games in one place if it's possible. I can wait for a good discount or a bundle, so I'm perfectly fine with steam.

I still like buying games from steam store as some games are not on other sites [yet] to giveaway [eu region] . I like the Remote play together mode that is on steam wich you can play with someone else and enjoy the game together. Also the steamchat groups and community i enjoy as when i play a multiplayer game the majority are on Steam. I have nothing against epic btw but i just spend majority of my time on steam :)

While I do agree Steam has slowed down a bit, but it's not really fair to compare it to Epic. Currently Epic is doing what Seam did over a decade ago with it's christmas sale, where you could do events and get a chance at a free game or coal. And 3 coal could be traded in for a random game.
Currently Epic is doing the same and most likely losing money, and doing so on purpose to gain market share and attention. Truly "epic" time for them to be doing so considering the pandemic.
It'll be interesting in a year or two, to see how Steam and Epic compare to rivals like GOG and itchio. Overall it's good for the consumer to have competition in a market, this lowers prices and increases innovation.

So i'd say the reason to buy games on steam vs other platforms is the same today as it was years ago, because it is cheaper. If it's not, then people will buy their games elsewhere.

I'm using GOG Galaxy 2.0 which does a great job of tying all the launchers into one, and i'm still amazed Valve hasnt done something similar, other than offering to add non-steam games one at a time.

You don't care about the platform but now you're only buying from one platform because that platform has sales? Because no other platform has sales and no other platform is ever cheaper? And you're even suggesting the only reason to use Steam anymore is being a fanboy?

Are you just trying to start drama?

price is of course the biggest factor for many but there are more things to consider. steam has many features no other store has. or at least no other store has it at this scale like steam. Workshop/, Marketplace, discussion forums, reviews are very good and helpful. If you have a problem with a game you google it and the first things that pops up is the steam community with the answer ready.

Bundling sites mostly offer Steam keys, so that's one reason. Another might be having a couple hundred/thousand games on Steam already and wanting to keep all our stuff in one place.

It is cheaper to buy on Steam in my country and i can use the Steam credit.

For me it's like why not buy from Steam?

• Better Regional Pricing on Steam : HZD ($19.99 on Steam vs $29.99 in Epic), RDR2 ($35.99 vs $44.99). CP2077(29.99 vs 29.99). Steam prices are lower or equal to that on Epic but never more expensive.
• Availability of Gifts Cards / Wallet : Country where I am from doesn't allow international transactions though our bank accounts/cards. That reduces our options for purchasing games, though steam gifts are easily found in e-commerce sites here(a bit expensive though)
• No other reliable alternatives : As much as I would like to be able to purchase bundles from Humble Bundle or Fanatical I can't. I can find gift cards of shady sites like G2A but I don't want to. Just found out Humble Bundle accepts Amazon wallet, will give it a try by purchasing Amazon gift card.
• Community Market / trading : Steam drops you trading cards, allows you to sell drop items in market. Its a great feature at least for me because I don't have to totally rely on the gift cards to buy the game. This year alone I was able to buy The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - GoTY, Just Cause 3 XXL Edition, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, The Walking Dead Season 2, RiME, Fallout 3 just by selling trading cards and item drop from Killing Floor 2.
• Refund Policy: Steam has good refund policy. Just now I refunded The Walking Dead Season 2, because if Amazon wallet works fine with Humble bundle I'll be buying Summer Adventure Games bundle to complete my Walking Dead collection.

I do agree with you on this years steam sales though. It wasn't on par with earlier sales. I rarely saw 90% discount on games. Previously game sold on -90% during steam sales were now on -80% sales.

I buy wherever it is cheaper. Most of the time it is on Steam. Sometimes it can be on Epic (mostly due to their absurd $10 off coupons) or Uplay or something else. Platform means nothing to me, just price.

As for HZD... you probably got lucky you bought it on Epic before they realized Sony changed the price to be higher on Steam. There was a full day window for you to do so else the price on both Steam and Epic would be the same.

Steam has achievements and trading cards, no other reason i guess

Believe it or not sometimes the cheapest place to get a game is actually on Steam...

Could be during sales or a midweek deal or something.

The other main reason; not every dev does make keys for other storefronts to sell. i.e. the only place to buy it on is Steam.

First of all, Steam Wallet. I sell cards and get free funds. I didn't spent a penny of real money this sale, yet were able to buy some decent games. To be cheaper than Steam other shop would need to pay me for playing games.
Secondly, regional prices. No, for me Epic is not cheaper.
And last, but not least, while I may consider buying from other shops, it will never be Epic. They did enough shit to gamers community to boycott them till the end of the world.

With Chinese regional pricing, games are extremely affordable there; even more than on sites like Gamivo.

I will still buy games on Steam, cause Epic.
Actually i do not really care if i pay 5€ less or more for a game that i really want to play, to play it on my favourite licenses store. I made these money on my own, so I should on my own decide where to spend them, ignoring people complaining how is Epic cheaper or I should wait if the game won't be added as free next Thursday :)

I am somewhat locked into the store having been there for over a decade, with lots to still play. I definitely don't buy from steam outside of sale times, and even those have less and less to entice me considering my backlog.

However, an important point I haven't seen mentioned, at least vs. Epic Ubi Origin etc, is Steam's Linux support. It's great already, lots of games run easily with linux versions and it keeps getting better with Steam integrating compatibility layers over games that don't support it natively.
Last I checked, those stores don't even have a linux client let alone games that work on it.