The digital distribution of video games revolutionized the way we acquire and enjoy our favorite titles, but at the same time it intensified the problem of fragmentation. In other words, if you want to manage all your games, you are forced to install and open several official stores on your system... unless you use Playnite. This open-source application helps you manage games from all your stores, from Steam to the Epic Games Store, with support for emulators, automatic data downloading, and much more.
From a certain point of view, this is one of the best times to dedicate yourself to video games. The main online stores are offering very good quality titles with significant discounts, and it would be crazy to forget the weekly giveaways that are just a click away. The Epic Games Store has enabled titles like GTA V and Control, Amazon did the same with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for Prime subscribers, and the rest of the platforms must get on the same train one way or another.
The only drawback is that we need half a dozen stores (or more) installed on our computer. Although there are exceptions that have a certain level of integration, in practice we must manually open each one before accessing the titles we have there. Fortunately, there are projects like Playnite, a manager/hub where you can manage games from all your stores under a single interface.
How to manage games from all your stores with Playnite
Once installed, Playnite will ask for the credentials of all the stores you want to associate with its interface. In some cases, the username and password are enough, but if your Steam profile is private, you will also need to add the API key. The process is a bit tedious at first, but the good news is that it only asks for it once.
On its first run, Playnite will download all relevant metadata. Each entry will receive details like playtime, genre, developer, original release date, official description, and some images (if available). If Playnite doesn't detect a specific game, you can always perform an additional automatic scan, or configure that title manually. This includes support for emulated games, and those belonging to the Microsoft store.
Playnite has a high level of customization thanks to its add-ons, so you can configure data sources, themes, secondary stores, and more. The interface has a complete translation into Spanish, and in that same configuration menu there is a section dedicated to scripts that we can run before, during, or after launching a game. In short, if you want to manage games from all your stores more easily, it's impossible to go wrong with Playnite. Download a copy!
Official site and download: Click here
