More than 5 years since launch, the Epic Game Store has still not turned profitable

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Marees

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How do they plan to make money 🤔

Tim Sweeney’s Epic Games Store Is Still Losing Money After Five Years​


new testimony has revealed that the Epic Games Store is still not profitable five years after its original launch in 2018.

That’s straight from Epic Games Store head Steve Allison on the witness stand (via The Verge) who admitted the storefront is still losing money. He also suggested that the original plan was for the Epic Games Store to someday grab half of all PC game revenue.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...osing-money-after-five-years/?sh=1adee0c7568e
 
EGS might be losing money, but I bet Epic as a company is still profitable.

As long as their engine licenses and Fornite profits keep them in the black, then it's all good. EGS might eventually end up being a failed experiment, but at least they will have learned something from it.

I don't think Tim Sweeney and company have any delusions about EGS overtaking Steam.
 
Absalom said:
EGS might be losing money, but I bet Epic as a company is still profitable.

As long as their engine licenses and Fornite profits keep them in the black, then it's all good. EGS might eventually end up being a failed experiment, but at least they will have learned something from it.

I don't think Tim Sweeney and company have any delusions about EGS overtaking Steam.
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Oh they had delusions.
I believe they likely still do.
When they say they envisioned 50% of all revenue... do you believe they expected steam to be the only other player? They expected #1... they figured success would make it even easier to pay developers for exclusivity.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Fortunately they can lay off more staff and keep giving games away.

Has anyone ever gotten a game from the Epic store and actually paid for it?
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I think Metro Exodus is the only one I bought, and that was when it was on a huge sale. The rest have all been giveaways.
 
I used to bother with it, logged on once a week to grab my free game. I think I paid for one or two exclusives, then it told me to install "Epic Online Services" every time I relaunched it and I have zero interest in fortnite so i'm not gonna do that. I don't think I've launched EGS in years.
I already have thousands of games of backlog on steam.
 
it was always going to be a tough road going against the monopoly that is Steam...I'm sure it took Steam a long time to get to where they are today as well...Epic should keep chipping away
 
Didn't help that they threw in the towel, mismanaged and essentially stopped developing their program. Signs of a company that expanded too fast, and fired too many people.

Valve is successful because it is a fairly tight ship and not that big. When they do venture out into something, they put a lot of effort behind it.
 
It seems like a proper Steam competitor will never exist since most PC gamers will only tolerate a 1:1 feature set, and other stores are fighting against established libraries, friends list, etc on Steam.
It's like someone launching a new OS to directly compete with Apple and Windows. It's just not going to happen, even though people pretend like they love competition and hate monopolies... nope, nope, nope. People wanted Epic to fail from day one. Any other new stores that pop up will likely get the same treatment. The only launcher people are willing to tolerate seems to be GOG, because they have DRM-free games.

I was willing to give Epic the benefit of the doubt when it launched in 2018. It took years for Steam to get where it is today, it's unreasonable to expect anybody to come out of the gate like that.

With all that said, Epic thought they could just launch a new store and customers would flood in. They've barely made any effort to improve the store, aside from cutting fees for publishers. I bought a bunch of games there during the big sales they used to do, I've claimed all their free giveaways (and played a couple). But they've basically given up and lost, at this point... And anybody else thinking about competing with Steam is probably a little more scared now, too.
 
So wonder what happens in another five years when they still aren't profitable? cause you know they are just going to double down on this same strategy as long as fortnite continues to bankroll the store.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I've never even installed EGS. I considered it, but as soon as they did their first paid exclusive I swore to boycott them, and I have.
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While I normally agree with this stance, in this case the easiest way to hurt them and show them how wrong they are/were is by taking every free game they give us and never giving them a penny. Their exclusivity bullshit was them fucking around, and now years later they are starting to find out.
 
polonyc2 said:
is Ubisoft Connect profitable?...EA Origin?...GOG?
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Probably. While it doesn't cost nothing to run a store, it isn't hugely expensive normally. That is part of why Valve pisses so much money is because Steam is just a massive cash cow that doesn't cost all that much to run. So it wouldn't surprise me if something like Origin was profitable because they didn't spend a ton of money on it, and of course they get 100% of the sale when something is bought on Origin.

The problem EGS has is that they burn piles of cash on free games and exclusives. The only reason a dev would agree to go timed exclusive on EGS is because Epic gave them a lot of money. You aren't going to stay away from Steam for anything less than a big payout. Likewise those free games are going to want money for that. Maybe a nice lump sum, maybe a per copy payout, but they aren't going to do it for free.

This burns tons of cash and the only reason is because Epic has this delusion of grandeur of taking over Steam's place. Origin seems to basically be a place for EA to sell their games and not have to pay anyone else. They will sell other people's games, of course, but they aren't really pushing that very hard, I doubt they are spending anything on it.
 
Sycraft said:
This burns tons of cash and the only reason is because Epic has this delusion of grandeur of taking over Steam's place. Origin seems to basically be a place for EA to sell their games and not have to pay anyone else. They will sell other people's games, of course, but they aren't really pushing that very hard, I doubt they are spending anything on it.
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I don't think Epic really believes it's going to overtake Steam...they just want to be part of the ecosystem...if you put all the games currently on Steam on the Epic store then they both would be on equal footing...but Steam has an unfair advantage which is why Epic needs to giveaway games and sign exclusivity agreements...that's how they are building their storefront and going against a monopoly...I can't blame them...they are doing what they need to do
 
GoldenTiger said:
GOG is barely profitable they've said.

I've bought plenty of games from those stores, epic, and steam. It's not like the game changes depending on where you buy it. People need to get over their steam fetishes.
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the Epic haters make no sense...they literally have 4-5 digital storefronts already installed on their systems...but...for some strange reason they are drawing the line with the Epic Store and refusing to install another one...and they create some made up reason in their heads about Tim Sweeney or the lack of certain features on the Epic Store to rationalize it but the truth is it's not rationale

if Epic has the game for cheaper than I have no issues with it...the game doesn't run better or have features exclusive to Steam...Steam is just a wrapper...
 
GoldenTiger said:
GOG is barely profitable they've said.

I've bought plenty of games from those stores, epic, and steam. It's not like the game changes depending on where you buy it. People need to get over their steam fetishes.
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maybe epic could work on providing some value/reason to use their store? GOG has their niche with drm free games, steam has good feature set and even windows store has games pass and few 'play anywhere' games with xbox. with epic i get 'timed exclusives' and good cut for devs? the latter i give 2 craps about.

i have epic client installed and have more games there then any other client thanks to the free games, but there is no reason for me to purchase games there.
 
I hate them all equally, but I’m annoyed that Epic causes my desktop to not enter sleep mode when running.
But I’ve spent money there and likely will again, sure it was on timed exclusives but I don’t fault them for it.

But if they are going to flaunt their lack of fees and what not they could at least give us better pricing.
 
polonyc2 said:
I don't think Epic really believes it's going to overtake Steam...they just want to be part of the ecosystem...if you put all the games currently on Steam on the Epic store then they both would be on even footing...but Steam has an unfair advantage which is why Epic needs to giveaway games and sign exclusivity agreements...that's how they build their storefront and go against a monopoly...I can't blame them...they are doing what they need to do
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They first need to make a product that doesn't suck.

Newbie_52 said:
maybe epic could work on providing some value/reason to use their store? GOG has their niche with drm free games, steam has good feature set and even windows store has games pass and few 'play anywhere' games with xbox. with epic i get 'timed exclusives' and good cut for devs? the latter i give 2 craps about.
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That's my issue with it. I have no reason to use it. It is not a good store front, so what's my motivation? I buy from GOG preferentially because I like the no-DRM and ability to download and save the installers. If something isn't on GOG, next is usually the company's own store, if they have one. I'll buy from Origin for an EA game because why have to run Steam AND Origin to play a game when I can just run Origin. Then for everything else, it's Steam because it is a good platform and everything is available there.

What's the motivation to use EGS? If it was good, maybe, but it really isn't.

Also the anti-competitive timed-exclusive thing rubs me the wrong way. I've never liked how consoles do exclusives either. I'm not going to boycott it because of that or anything, but it makes me less interested.
 
polonyc2 said:
is Ubisoft Connect profitable?...EA Origin?...GOG?
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EA did try and push 3rd party developers/publishers listing the games on Origin a long time ago. It seemed like it flopped because it quickly reverted back to being a store for EA products. I recall the Batman games and DCS coming to Origin. EA has now started putting games on Steam but they still require Origin. Seems like the cost/effort to maintain Origin are not quite worth the savings, but they are still keeping a rebranded Origin around so clearly they see it still has some value.
 
polonyc2 said:
is Ubisoft Connect profitable?...EA Origin?...GOG?
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They all also sell games on steam.

They currently work as DLC and subscription storefronts where they keep 100% of the profits. Probably worth keeping around for that.

As for GOG, they have a niche in the Old Games section and the DRM Free thing.
 
I wonder why?
  • Do they have unique games besides Fortnite? Especially single player because multiplayer comes and goes?
  • Do they support Linux?
  • Did they make a portable game console like Valve's Steam Deck?
  • Did they make a VR Headset like Valve's Index?
  • Did they make a game that tried to innovate around VR Headsets like Half Life Alex?
 
DukenukemX said:
I wonder why?
  • Do they have unique games besides Fortnite? Especially single player because multiplayer comes and goes?
  • Do they support Linux?
  • Did they make a portable game console like Valve's Steam Deck?
  • Did they make a VR Headset like Valve's Index?
  • Did they make a game that tried to innovate around VR Headsets like Half Life Alex?
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None of that is relevant for a game store. Games are largely the same on stores, but they do pay for exclusives sometimes which steam fanboys whine about endlessly.

Besides, you always tout how you pirate everything, what do you care about game stores? :ROFLMAO:
 
DukenukemX said:
I wonder why?
  • Do they have unique games besides Fortnite? Especially single player because multiplayer comes and goes?
  • Do they support Linux?
  • Did they make a portable game console like Valve's Steam Deck?
  • Did they make a VR Headset like Valve's Index?
  • Did they make a game that tried to innovate around VR Headsets like Half Life Alex?
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From what I gather they don't even have a proper windows launcher. One where people think, "this ain't so bad," when they start it to play those free games.

Edit: "proper" as in "very good" or "marked by suitability, rightness, or appropriateness".
 
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kac77 said:
The Steam Deck alone added 3 million users. That's really impressive for a handheld that's not from Nintendo and runs on Linux. Eventually Steam will run on all platforms regardless of ISA which is huge.
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You mean sold 3 million units, not added users. They all likely had steam accounts already when they bought it ;). Otherwise, please post a source link.
 
GoldenTiger said:
None of that is relevant for a game store. Games are largely the same on stores, but they do pay for exclusives sometimes which steam fanboys whine about endlessly.
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It matters when Valve is synonymous with gaming. Valve has their hands in literally ever aspect of gaming. If you want to game on Mac or Linux then Steam is preferable. If you own a Steam Deck then Steam is preferable. Most of your games are on Steam, because Steam has been around longer than 5 years. Some of the most played games are owned by Valve, and they didn't buy an existing studio with existing games to make their games. Last I remember, Epic made a game called Unreal. You'd think they'd make a sequel that doesn't suck that would attract people to their store?

View: https://youtu.be/5PtU2stZK0M?si=rVdJPMUTESTFXHNG
Besides, you always tout how you pirate everything, what do you care about game stores? :ROFLMAO:
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I like to try before I buy. If I like the game then I buy it. Even Steam has a terrible return policy. If you play the game for more than 2 hours you can't return it. I can spend that much time creating a character.
 
Sycraft said:
They first need to make a product that doesn't suck.



That's my issue with it. I have no reason to use it. It is not a good store front, so what's my motivation? I buy from GOG preferentially because I like the no-DRM and ability to download and save the installers. If something isn't on GOG, next is usually the company's own store, if they have one. I'll buy from Origin for an EA game because why have to run Steam AND Origin to play a game when I can just run Origin. Then for everything else, it's Steam because it is a good platform and everything is available there.

What's the motivation to use EGS? If it was good, maybe, but it really isn't.

Also the anti-competitive timed-exclusive thing rubs me the wrong way. I've never liked how consoles do exclusives either. I'm not going to boycott it because of that or anything, but it makes me less interested.
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I don't think it can ever be seen as good, even if it was actually good. The thing with Steam is that for multiplayer games alone they provide a way to connect at the minimum. So if your friend is playing some random multiplayer title, you can generally be sure that Steam will allow you to easily connect with them. Then, any friends that you might have are on there and it's easy to talk to them. On top of that, for every game in general, they provide easy achievement tracking (and people will actually see your achievements because it's a huge community), a community built around it, and finally a workshop where you can share and download mods easily (assuming the game allows it). Finally, chances are, most of your friends are already on it. Heck, I even hosted some dedicated servers for like Terraria or something that use Steam's API for letting users easily connect.

If you buy a game on Epic store, you can't just easily connect to Steam people in probably most titles (afaik anyhow). I think even for Borderlands games, my friends needed like a third account on top of both of them so we could play with each other. Me and one friend got it on Epic, the others got it somewhere else. This is the issue with trying to set up a competing platform. Sure, you can offer lower prices and free exclusives. People will take advantage of that, especially at college age. But trying to get a sizeable long term fanbase is going to be difficult because you don't have the rest of the infrastructure that Steam has built up, on top of a much smaller library.

This is all, again, assuming Epic's store was at least as easy to browse and had as many titles as Steam... which it doesn't. Like many others, I also don't really care for having to split my logins against multiple competing platforms to buy and play my games. A vast majority of my content is on Steam. Some of it is on Ubisoft, some is on Origin/EA, some is on Nintendo store, some is on Playstation, etc etc etc. It's getting to the point where sometimes being a legitimate, non-pirate gamer is going to be more annoying than being a pirate.

I think this is all a big issue, too. Currently Steam is still at least playing nice with the way they present their service, due to their current leadership (although I'm going to hate their hardware people forever due to the Deck OLED), but what if they stop?I think it's honestly amazing that it hasn't slipped and fallen already, and I'm scared about my game collection if they start going into the anti-consumer hole deep. What could we actually do to stop them? Who's keeping them from doing that right now?

Anyway, I still take advantage of Epic's free game deals. Occasionally I get stuff that's pretty good (got a lot of time out of their free GTA V promotion) and I certainly don't mind an extra login to save a lot of money. But they have some pain points if they want to in any way rival Steam as a full platform.
 
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