Difference between retail DVD and Steam CD key?

[numnums]

Hi everyone,

This is probably a silly question, but I was wondering what the differences were between buying a PC game via retail DVD and buying it from Steam. The last game I physically bought for PC was Battlefield 2142, and I remember just installing it and playing. Any help I can get would be much appreciated!

[Swndlr]

one of them you buy from the store like a bestbuy or gamestop, then put the install cd into your pc and it will install, then put the game disc in and play

 

steam key is just a redeemable code that you put into steam and the entire installation happens there as well as access to the game.

[numnums]

one of them you buy from the store like a bestbuy or gamestop, then put the install cd into your pc and it will install, then put the game disc in and play

steam key is just a redeemable code that you put into steam and the entire installation happens there as well as access to the game.

Will you always need the CD to pay the game? I always thought that once you installed it from the CD, you can launch the game without it.

[Remilia]

The difference is that it either is DRM-free, uses another DRM than Steam or uses Steamworks(exactly like buying it on steam but with installation from disc).