The Epic Games Store will officially turn 5 years old in early December, and while some of the fiery debate surrounding the storefront has died down, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a success yet. Epic and Google are currently engaged in a legal showdown over app store fees, which has provided some interesting new testimony regarding the Epic Games Store.
Yesterday, Epic Games Store boss Steve Allison took the stand, and admitted the storefront still wasn’t turning a profit. At this point, Allison says the main aim is still to grow the store’s userbase, rather than turn big profits (or any profits at all). This is significant, because back in 2021 during Epic’s legal showdown with Apple, company found Tim Sweeney admitted the Epic Games Store was losing up to $300 million a year, but predicted their aggressive promotional tactics would result in the store turning a profit in 2023. Well, obviously, that hasn’t happened.
Recently, there’s been less of a focus on Epic Games Store exclusives, with the few that we still see often only locked in for 3 to 6 months rather than a full year. That said, Epic is also fully funding some games, such as Alan Wake 2, ensuring they’ll be Epic-exclusive on PC for a longer period. Epic has also continued their practice of giving away an endless stream of free games, which has boosted the number of people with the Epic launcher downloaded on their PCs, but likely also contributed to its unprofitability.
There have been some signs in recent months that things aren’t going that well for the Epic Games Store, with a new scheme that gives publishers all revenue for the first six months rolled out to entice more games to the storefront. Longtime EGS boss Sergiy Galyonkin also recently left the company. This all comes in the context of Epic recently admitting the company as a whole has been losing money for a while, leading to widespread layoffs.
Personally, I’ve never had any big issue with the Epic Games Store. Sure, it’s launcher isn’t as good as Steam’s, but it’s functional, and once you’re actually in a game, it doesn’t really matter. Opening another launcher takes 30 seconds. That said, the EGS brand is so tarnished at this point, I have a feeling turning a profit may never happen.
What do you think? Will the Epic Games Store ever be profitable? Or is it just throwing good money after bad at this point?
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Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
