Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!
I just built a new gaming PC and couldn’t find a list of all popular Windows Game Store/PC Game Launchers or a Ninite equivalent for Game Launchers. In the absence of anyone else doing it, figured I’d put together a list for others – you’re welcome!
If you’re building a gaming PC, giving a gaming PC as a gift, and want to make sure it’s ready to use out-of-the-box, here’s all the popular game launchers / game stores you should install on your Windows PC. These game launchers / game stores are essential. I have listed them in alphabetical order, not in order of preference. When you get to the sites, look for the download or launcher link to get the required app.
- Activision, makers of Call of Duty (CoD), Diablo, Warcraft, and one of my favorites – Overwatch.
- If you are into sports games, EA has you covered. It’s also where you will find the Battlefield franchise. EA’s game store was formerly known as Origin.
- Epic is the home of Fortnite and daily game give aways, even if you don’t play Fortnite worth it for the regular free games.
- If you prefer older games, GOG Galaxy is your go-to store. I use it for the Ultima series.
- Famous for their Huble Bundle deals, charity sale events and “Pay What You Want” promotions.
- Want to support independent developers, own a playdate? You’ll find something fun on itch
- Makers of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and Red Dead Redemption, I’m a fan of the latter.
- If you’re a dedicated gamer, Steam is the game store of choice – especially if you have plans to get a Steam Deck (let me dream for minute!)
- The Ubisoft store, technically Ubisoft Connect is your destination for the Assassins Creed, Tom Clancy, and Watchdogs games.
Stores but no Launcher
- A good source for discounted games / game codes that you can redeem on Steam and elsewhere.
- Extensive collection of games from non-mainstream publishers.
- Not a player myself, but this is where you can find League of Legends.
Other Useful Gaming Apps
- If you want one launcher over the top of all your other launchers, PlayNite is for you. You still need to download every other app store – but it saves you having to remember which launcher to use. Make sure you install the integrations for the game stores you use to get the most out of PlayNite (Add Ons -> Browse ->
- Even if you don’t own Corsair devices, I like the Corsair App as it puts all your system thermals in one convenient app. I think Corsair makes the cleanest and easiest to use gaming system monitor – next stop for me will be one of their keyboards or mice!
Useful Gaming Site
- I run an i5 with a 3060 and 16Gb – not the greatest of specs, but decent enough. If you’re on something older or, like me, want to know if a game will run at a decent frame rate before you buy it, CanYouRunIt is a useful site. It’s accurate about 90% of the time, making it a good place to start.
Hope this helps someone else!
PS. I’d love a new graphics card, I built my gaming PC using parts I got from Craigslist and currently have a 3060. I if you care to buy me a coffee it will actually be used for a graphics card!
Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!