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u/TurtlePsycho011 Apr 12 '26
Can confirm. Source: I've done it myself
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u/no_racist_here Apr 12 '26
Yup, did it all the time, the only one I’ve ever played was slime rancher. Then I bought it on steam, and uninstalled egs.
I figured what’s the point of the bloat if I’m never gonna actually play the games.
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u/SwagLimit Apr 12 '26
I stopped getting the free games after awhile tbh. I already had most of it. Even when they did that limited-exclusive thing going, I always just waited for the game to be available on steam
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u/supersimpsonman Apr 12 '26
Borderlands 3 released on Steam and I was like “Woah, I forgot this was even a game!”
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u/where_is_the_camera Apr 12 '26
I bought BL3 on Steam even though I already had it on Epic. The Epic launcher is so bad, slow, and unreliable. And as a store it offers nothing.
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u/no_racist_here Apr 12 '26
Yea, the exclusivity is what killed them for me. I was grabbing the free stuff until then.
I didn’t even care about the game that was exclusive I just didn’t like the concept of a 6mo+ delay for steam launch and didn’t want to reward them for that.
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u/acreativeuzername Apr 12 '26
Wait till they find out I claim the game for free on epic then end up buying it on steam anyways cause I forgot I had it on epic
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u/Captain_Pumpkinhead Apr 12 '26
If I like a game I got for free on Epic, I'll buy it from Steam because I'd much rather play it on Steam.
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u/Miserable_Initial732 ⚙️λ⚙ Apr 12 '26
Same here.
A few weeks ago I saw a bunch of marketing about Isonzo being the freebie and was like
"huh! that's a nice game... let's see how much it's going for on steam..."
\*add to cart*\**
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u/RnDevelopment Apr 12 '26
Hahaha I did the exact same thing for Verdun. Then bought Verdun and the rest of the series on Steam 🤣
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u/TheBreenius Apr 12 '26
Epic Store, the demo distributor.
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u/thlm Apr 12 '26
Nah, demos imply you play them
I don't even have the store installed
Its just a free marketing platform for other stores
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u/green-mape Apr 12 '26
You can use steam to launch games you own through epic btw
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u/TheCheesy 3090ti | Ryzen 9 9950x | 128GB DDR5 Apr 12 '26
Literally did this twice.
It just sucks. Most games critically out if date, mods not being compatible, Crossplatform or coop not working.
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u/TrotskyBoi Apr 12 '26
I cannot remember which game it was, but the developers said that they pushed more copies on Steam than EGS while it was free on EGS.
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u/Masonzero Apr 12 '26
I have a process. Whenever I get a game for free on Epic (or elsewhere) I go to Steam and mark it as "Played on Another Platform" so I have an easy way to track whether I own it somewhere.
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u/miafaszomez Apr 12 '26
For me it's like a free trial. If I like the game, it gets bought and finished on steam.
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u/Bagel_Bear Apr 12 '26
Never bought a game on Epic ever but probably have over 100
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u/Showmethecookie Apr 12 '26
Only game I’ve bought from there is Alan Wake 2
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u/AlterMyStateOfMind Apr 12 '26
Same. It's literally the only time I have ever used their launcher because I absolutely had to and it was worth it lol
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u/jekpopulous2 Apr 12 '26
Such an incredible game…it’s only thing I’ve ever bought from their shop. I wonder if Control 2 will also be an Epic exclusive.
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u/KillerFiala Apr 12 '26
Someday it will come to steam. I wait and I have a lot of patience Lol
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u/SuspiriaSlut Apr 12 '26
Unfortunately won’t, Epic paid for it.
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u/KillerFiala Apr 12 '26
Epic store might bankrupt/ go out of business. Maybe only way
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u/John_Gabbana Apr 12 '26
Don’t they own unreal engine? And if I’m not mistaken they receive a percentage from successful games.
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u/DarthWeezy Apr 12 '26
Sweeney is a terrible CEO, they almost filed for bankruptcy on multiple occasions back when everyone and their dog was licensing UE and UE 3 especially.
GoW made a lot of money for them, until it didn’t and they had nothing, same with UT, it’ll eventually be the same with Fortnite, they manage their IPs terribly and can’t build upon them successfully, but these days they struck gold with Disney investing in them to develop random stuff on top of Fortnite so they’ll have leeway to find something sustainable after Fortnite no longer draws crowds years from now.
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u/ShotFromGuns Apr 12 '26
I'm refusing on principle. It's absolutely wild to me that they would rather give it away for free on Amazon Luna than let people pay them money for it on Steam.
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u/pblol Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
I bought Flower and maybe Journey? I can't remember if one was free. I also claim basically every free game and use the launcher for that.
I've been downvoted a ton for suggesting that the launcher isn't that bad. It's not steam. It does not have that ecosystem and at this point I don't ever expect it to.
I do think having a market competitor is a good thing for the hobby and that most of the people that bandwagon hate on it are short sighted. If you want competition (and thus lower prices and better systems) you should be rooting for it. The feeling is generally just anger toward it out of blind fanboy rage, rather than apathy or disappointment.
I know the UI is laggy and not great and it doesn't have a viable workshop. I honestly don't use any other steam features I don't think? I guess my friends list is large there. I don't know.
Valve clearly has the better platform. Epic's is objectively worse. I just wish people welcomed competition instead of rooting for a different walled garden because they're already bought in. It reminds me of Apple fans.
Edit: assumed this was r/PCgaming
Bring on the brigade.
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u/asdfjfkfjshwyzbebdb Apr 12 '26
What exactly did Epic expect? Their strategy has been done hundreds of times before and it always fails.
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u/noeyesfiend Apr 12 '26
Right? I WANT steam to have a competitor just because I abhor a monopoly but even fucking Amazon fumbles this shit. Like steam doesn't even seem that revolutionary or anything, they just put customer EXPERIENCE first and I think so many fucking companies forget that.
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u/tomle4593 Apr 12 '26
The moment “shareholders value” walks in, we can’t have nice shit, since 2016 for literally everything from foods to gaming.
When Gabe steps down and Valve goes public, we will suffer the same fate.
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u/brakenbonez Apr 12 '26
Fingers crossed that he chooses a good successor and/or they're smart enough to see how much more profitable Steam is as it is compared to companies like Epic.
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u/Aquatic_Kyle Apr 12 '26
I’m so worried lol. Steam has had its flaws but personally they have never disappointed me. It’s the one thing enshitification hasn’t touched and I really hope it stays that way
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u/StrangeCandidates Apr 12 '26
With the way everything is going for gaming, steam really feels like the last bastion for hope.
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u/xXMr_PorkychopXx Apr 12 '26
He’s supposedly hand-picking someone who shares his ideologies, but I heard that second hand so I take it with a grain of salt. A public Valve would be horrible.
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u/SajevT Apr 12 '26
AFAIK the successor will be his Son. Or thats atleast the speculation that has been going on for years. I do hope that he's gonna be like his father and wont make valve go public
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u/Stalked_Like_Corn Apr 13 '26
His successor is his son, so I've heard, who has swore to keep it the same way.
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u/VitalityAS Apr 12 '26
Shareholders ruined capitalism change my mind.
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u/JimboTCB Apr 12 '26
Not shareholders per se, but investors. People with no interest in the operations of the company itself, they just put money in and want more money out. They don't care what the company even does as long as line goes up by more than it did the previous quarter.
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Apr 12 '26 edited May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Damascus_ari Apr 12 '26
I mean, epic lanuched without a shopping cart. You know, the thing almost every website where you purchase anything at all has already had at that point. I'm not expecting all the doodads, I'm expecting it not to crash on update.
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u/sciencesold Apr 12 '26
Honestly Steam is the only good monopoly, and at this point they will continue to be because they're better than 99% of anything else out there. Hard to have competition when the competition isn't even willing to do the bare minimum.
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u/brakenbonez Apr 12 '26
I get the dislike for monopolies but is a monopoly really bad if it doesn't become predatory? Steam has yet to become predatory and as long as Gabe is in charge, it never will. Hopefully he leaves it in good hands after he passes. Some devs have been disgruntled about the price of having their games on steam but Steam is still (and probably always will be) the biggest game platform on PC. IF your game is good, it more than makes up for it in sales due to Steam's significantly higher playerbase so they still make more money on Steam than Epic and definitely a lot more than if they'd just try to do their own launcher and sell it themselves. EA found this out with Origin. As did Ubisoft with Uplay.
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u/Nersius Apr 12 '26
That's the issue.
The best form of government is a benevolent and humble dictator, issue is what happens next?
Total faith in Gabe's Valve in the market, but would be nice to have a stronger GoG or Itch for when Gabe eventually loses control of the company.
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u/brakenbonez Apr 12 '26
Hopefully whoever takes over is smart enough to realize how profitable Steam is as is and how competitors don't come close because they don't have the same morals and standards. Otherwise all those competitors will start looking like more viable options. It's happened before with major companies losing large chunks of consumers due to terrible changes. Steam and gamers won't be any different. The reason we'll pay for a game on steam that is currently free on epic is because we like steam more. If we stop liking steam, it all changes.
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u/MrBootylove Apr 12 '26
Their strategy has been done hundreds of times before and it always fails.
Has it? I personally can't really think of any examples of companies giving out free shit for years in an attempt to gain market share.
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u/lsf_stan Apr 12 '26
they could not name one instance, because it has not actually "been done hundreds of times before"
it's not truth but it sounds good and adds to the whole 'EGS bad' thread train happening here, so upvotes here! it usually always happens on these Epic store threads on r/Steam anyway
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Apr 12 '26
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u/cmackchase Apr 12 '26
The problem with that logic is the long game doesn't matter when people already have a library on another system and view your ecosystem as a nuisance.
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u/Key-Department-2874 Apr 12 '26
That's really the thing. Its difficult to swap from an established ecosystem.
Epic is banking on people becoming established. Its not you or I who already have large Steam libraries we can't give up.
Its the new generation who aren't tied to a library/ecosystem yet.
A lot of tech works this way, even many games. For example, LoL is known as a millennial game, new generations aren't playing it. The new generations get started on new games and new websites and new tech and it's what they use. Like kids use ChatGPT instead of Google for another example.
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u/Any-Distribution995 Apr 12 '26
This is exactly what they're doing, they are banking on having a Steam account is going to be 'Uncle' among a generation that grew up playing fortnite.
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u/VacationCheap927 Apr 12 '26
For me its not even just that. Personally if I can get it GOG, I go with them because I support them and being DRM free.
But the store for Epic turned me off from launch. They didnt have a fucking shipping cart. This wasnt the start of online shopping. Everyone had that feature when they came out. Everyone. Theyre the only place I know of that didnt. So they open up with a big sale, people want to buy multiple games, but they have to buy them individually, which sets off an alarm, and locked people out of their accounts.
And it still took them like 3 or 4 years to implement a shopping cart feature.
They just dont care. Its not as easy to use, theyre slow to fix it, and just over all I see no reason to use it now. The only real reason I would use it is for Alan Wake 2. And I just got that on the PS5 instead.
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u/fox112 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
Everyone acting appalled but this is literally the steam sub. Of course WE aren't swapping in droves.
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u/VanimalCracker Apr 12 '26
Their free games started out strong, but have went to shit quickly.
This week they have Prop Sumo and TOMAK: Save the Earth Regeneration. Who tf is jumping on Epic launcher to download this nonsense?
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u/Lord_Nishgod Apr 12 '26
i still claim them to have them in my library because i don't say no to free games, but it's rare i even think about starting a game on epic.
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u/MrBootylove Apr 12 '26
but have went to shit quickly.
They still give out bangers every now and then, with December usually having several worthwhile games to pick up. As some examples last December they gave out Hogwarts Legacy, Disco Elysium, Chivalry 2, and The Callisto Protocol. Last may I was also able to grab Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. In December of 2024 they gave out Control, Ghostrunner 2, Sifu, Dredge, Vampire Survivors, Kingdom Come Deliverance, and Hell Let Loose. I've also gotten Dead Island 2 for free, Return to Moria, Lego Skywalker Saga, and Redout 2.
And those were all just from the last two-ish years. So yeah they're not giving out 10/10 games every single week, but I certainly wouldn't say that the quality of the games they give out "went to shit."
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u/Ticmea Apr 12 '26
Yep, I agree. Not always bangers but you do see pretty good stuff every now and then. The quality and quantity of free games on EGL is not their problem. They have a service problem.
I still don't use their store (despite claiming nearly 400 free games, many of which are actually really good games) because it's just worse than Steam in nearly every conceivable way. Nearly every feature that Steam has, EGL either does not have or is substantially worse there in some way.
Reviews, friends, chats, ingame overlay, guides, store, ... you name it, it doesn't matter, they are all worse.
On top of it EGL is also way more of a resource hog and substantially less responsive than Steam.
If it were equivalent to Steam, I would absolutely consider using them, I am by no means bound to Steam. But it isn't and free games - even really good ones - don't change that.
If I will spend money on a game, I'll do it where the service is best, which is Steam.
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u/MrBootylove Apr 12 '26
No one is arguing that the storefront itself is as good as steam. With that said some of your information is outdated, particularly:
On top of it EGL is also way more of a resource hog and substantially less responsive than Steam.
This was true early in Epic's life, but is no longer the case. You should go ahead and boot up EGS and compare its resource usage to steam's, because they're very comparable now.
Everything else you said I agree with. I personally see Epic as my back up in case Steam ever goes to shit. I also just don't really like the black and white sentiment of "steam good, Epic bad" since there's a lot more nuance to it than that, and it's basically just the console wars all over again. The way I see it, even though Epic's launcher is worse than steam, it's still good that anyone is even attempting to compete with them still since pretty much everyone else who tried has long since given up. And even though Steam is the objectively better storefront they still get up to some shady business practices from time to time, such as the unregulated gambling they allow to take place through CS skins, both through the lootbox system as well as the third party sports betting sites that use skins as currency. And on the other side of that coin not everything Epic does is bad. Them giving out free games for years at this point is a good thing from the perspective of the consumer, the reduced cut they take from devs is also a good thing. This last example is also from my personal bias, but without Epic Alan Wake 2 would not exist at all, and as a big fan of Remedy I'm glad that they financed the game, even if it means that the game is exclusive to their storefront.
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u/Daniel_Potter Apr 12 '26
This might be their last year. Hope for a good christmas banger though. But you know, it's been going on for 7 years straight (first giveaway happened in dec 2018, subnautica btw).
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u/-Best_Name_Ever- Apr 12 '26
I agree with you, and I stopped for the same reason a long time ago. But this feels mean to the devs of those games, and I feel like many people still log in for those, so I don't think you're correct on that lol
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u/DDzxy Apr 12 '26
Someone I knew who worked for Epic games suppprt — their team leader have them 20€ STEAM gift cards as bonuses lmfao
Merely a support team that is outsourced but still.
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u/AquaBits Apr 12 '26
Id love for an actual source for this lol
Imagine getting a bonus at your job and your boss giving you a steam gift card thatd you have no use for because you play on console or dont game at all
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u/DDzxy Apr 12 '26
Nah, I can’t source this since it’d be doxxing them so you’re gonna have to take my word for it believe it or not.
But they were a customer support team, a company hired them for customer support and then Epic hired that company, but yeah it was still funny.
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u/AccidentSalt5005 i love steam and women Apr 12 '26
But they were a customer support team, a company hired them for customer support and then Epic hired that company, but yeah it was still funny.
"do not redeeeeeeeemmmmmm"
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u/Bean4141 Apr 12 '26
Whenever a game goes free on Epic, check the Steam Chart for it. I guarantee you there’s a decent spike.
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u/based_birdo Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
This cat was just told that people only use epic for the free games, he didn't seem suprised.
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u/p00rlyexecuted Apr 12 '26
I don't even bother with the free games.
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u/Aesk Apr 12 '26
That's the way. I don't want to given even a glimmer of support more to Epic. It's bad enough that I have to deal with their shitty engine if I want to play the games that use it.
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u/Makoto_Kurume Apr 12 '26
To my knowledge, Epic still loses money when people claim free games, so if you claim a free game and never spend money in their store, it’s worse than just not bothering with it.
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u/nomedable Apr 12 '26
Yeah the only reason I ever even downloaded the launcher or made an account was because I was going to try to learn game development in Unreal and you're forced to use EGS for that. Opened it like once and then life moved on and changed my plans.
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u/Aurilion Apr 12 '26
Glad to see i'm not alone with this. I don't want that trash store on my computer.
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u/ILovePotassium https://s.team/p/dmqk-dgf Apr 12 '26
I appreciate all the free games but Epic has serious issues with cloud saves. I've lost so much progress many times.
Meanwhile on Steam I haven't had issues with cloud saves even once.
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u/Psylux7 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
I reinstalled the batman arkham games on epic a couple of years after 100%ing them only to find my progress gone. I guess i now know that was no fluke if epics store has a reputation for bad cloud saving. I am still thankful that i got to play the games for free, but now that i have every arkham game on steam, i will play them on there instead of epic if i feel like revisiting batman.
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u/Xusder Apr 12 '26
Counter to Epic, I recently installed Fallout New Vegas on my Steam Deck (due to the recent show being on my mind). All of my saves from Steam in 2018 were there. Granted I had modded the hell out of my game back then, so the saves weren't useable, but that still impressed me enough.
I knew the cloud was alright (due my more recent Cyberpunk 2077 saves from last year that transferred over), but to have something from 8 years ago (or more) just show up, very impressive.
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u/AlaskanNobody Apr 12 '26
That reminds me, I forgot to check what this week's free game is...
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u/Humble_Dog_1999 Apr 12 '26
The only non slop games are during Christmas anyways
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u/fluffygryphon Apr 12 '26
There's some decent gems from time to time, but I buy them on Steam to play them lol
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u/rekage99 Apr 12 '26
EGS has a terrible UI and functionality. Even if i wanted to use it, it feels like shit.
On top of that, if you ever forget your login info it’s a fucking nightmare to recover it. The entire service is dogshit.
Steam could be half as good as it is and still be better than EGS.
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u/DanLim79 Apr 12 '26
Free game is not worth installing yet another platform. I have enough backlogs on Steam as it is.
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u/Evonos Apr 12 '26
i mean lets be real here , WHY should you use the epic game store vs steam ? its literally something like the amazon games store thing you use for your free games thats it.
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u/Priapismkills Apr 12 '26
I regret buying one 6 month exclusive on Epic; now that its no longer an epic exclusive I wish I could move the license to steam.
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u/Lord_Nishgod Apr 12 '26
this is me with hitman 3. bought it at release because i couldn't wait to play it, now i wish i had it on steam.
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u/philbertagain Apr 12 '26
About the only reason to continue using Epic, Prime Gaming, Luna et al means they continue to pay devs... even if you never pay the games.
As is the few games I played on Epic I later bought on Steam... so double payday for those devs.
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u/MaterialDefender1032 Apr 12 '26
When EGS started giving away free games, I always imagined there was a guy in a board room somewhere proudly announcing to his superiors that X number of new accounts were created that month as a result of the latest free game, and slyly leaving out the part where none of those new accounts were actually active after claiming the free game.
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u/TisFury Apr 12 '26
I've definitely purchased games on steam that I got for free on epic because I wanted the expansion and didn't want to give epic money.
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u/mikutetofan Apr 12 '26
I would rather buy the same game on steam instead of using the shitty epic games launcher
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u/MinuteFalse5023 Apr 13 '26
I would use the free version of a game I get on epic like a demo to see if I want to buy it on steam
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u/BandoTheHawk Apr 12 '26
I appreciate all them free games. I got like a thousand of them and I have played a decent majority of them. some of them are good but most are nothing I care about. But still pretty cool they hook it up like that. I have bought a couple games out of sympathy and because they were a better deal than steam had at the time. but they could improve on the interface.
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u/ThomasMalloc Apr 12 '26
I wanted to give it a chance. I want Steam to have good competition.
But they aren't even trying. The store part of Steam is what I look at the LEAST. And that's all Epic launcher has except for their shoddy friends list.
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u/BadadvicefromIT Apr 12 '26
I bought a game from Epic once. It was supposed to be multiplayer but my brother and I couldn’t get it to work. A quick google search showed that this was a known issue and there wasn’t a workaround so I went to refund the game. MF’s wouldn’t refund me! I then went to leave a bad review to warn others but there was nowhere to leave a review! Just the “Critics review” of 4/5 stars and nowhere to warn others the game was completely defective.
Never again.
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u/Historical-Swan-3482 Apr 12 '26
This reminds me, I need to open EGS and see if there are any free games to claim!
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u/sabersquirl Apr 12 '26
I’d rather by a game on Steam than get it for free on epic. Wait for a sale, then I get mods, my friends already added, all my achievements in one place
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u/Pretzel-Kingg Apr 12 '26
I have literally purchased a game on steam that I already had on epic because I just didn’t wanna deal with all that. It was like $5 but still lol
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u/Opposite-Cup2850 Apr 12 '26
I don’t even use it for the free games. Any game that is free on epic games can be found for like <$5 during a steam sale or on a key website. I’d rather just pay a couple dollars to have it on steam instead
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u/NotGreatNot_Terrible Apr 12 '26
There’s literally 0 incentive. Shit friends interface on it, shitty controller support, shitty marketplace. You’d think if you’re trying to compete with the best you’d have a little more up your sleeve than a giveaway service.
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u/Xtheth Apr 12 '26
I think I've actively bought 3 games on Epic. During the whole exclusive thing that no one will ever do again.
Though, PC building Sim 2 has been exclusive to epic for far too long and not on steam, it's tempting.
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u/pleasegivemealife Apr 12 '26
You can flak about Epic Store but i find lots of gems because of Epic free games for example Prey 2017, Control, Deathloop etc. so.. thanks?
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u/SoftDrinkReddit Apr 12 '26
God its honestly embarrassing how shit epic games is
They literally had their entire platform built for them by steam and they still managed to fuck it up
God I hope steam is never broken up because how is it steams fault all their competitors are just really really stupid
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u/Raunhofer Apr 12 '26
The. Product. Needs. To. Be. Better. To. Win. Another. Existing. Product.
Business 101, you're welcome Tim!
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u/Tamarisk22 Apr 12 '26
I've even given up opening EGS for the free games. I've never played a single one and by now I know if I want to play a game, I'll completely forget I have it on EGS and buy it on Steam
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u/CptNeon Apr 12 '26
I’ve bought games on steam I already had for free on epic because fuck that dogshit
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u/RyanBurnsRed Apr 12 '26
Making a bunch of highly anticipated games ditch their confirmed Steam releases for a year when they first launched EGS ensured they’d never see a cent of my money go from my bank account to theirs. I think those early aggressive moves to force a market shift burned the bridge for a lot of people.
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u/b15udi09er Apr 12 '26
i personally stopped even claiming games. its pointless when you don't even play the games
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u/Banlish Apr 13 '26
Well yeah,
1. The store experience in EGS is TERRIBLE compared to steam. You buy anything and even being in darkmode the entire storefront flashes into BRIGHT WHITE MODE until you complete and go back to the store.
2. The sales are usually the same price range as steam.
3. The storefront uses push notifications on the task bar that keep re-enabling instead of just a 'here's a sale on a game on your wishlist' obtrusive AND annoying at the same time.
4. They've paid game companies to be 'exclusive only' instead of 'better priced' so instead of making the same game be $5 cheaper, they instead say 'buy it here or fuck you'. The stick vs the carrot.
5. More than a few times some games have not released DLCs on the Epic store, so you can't even get the full game if you tried. (not 100% sure on this one)
6. I don't think there even IS a modding scene on epic let alone be as robust as on steam with '+ to add mod to your installed game'
Things that would make epic leagues better.
1. Give the customer a ton of control. Want to tune and tone messages, let us easily and frequently. If I turn on dark mode I don't want to even see a HINT of white anywhere, fix that storefront where white is a blaring PAIN IN THE CORNEAS
2. Make sales actually matter: If AWESOME game is $59.99 on steam, make it $49.99 on epic, not $59.99 or $59.50.
3. Make rewards actually significant, want to see people buy games in droves give some of the indie titles some really amazing cash back, like 5% to 15%. Yes it would hurt for a bit, but it would give a REAL tangible reason to use the platform. Getting 1% to 3% towards your next game will be like many, get a free game, and back to steam.
4. OPTIMIZE - you want to be on all the time, make it run as smoothly as possible. Give it modes where it isn't always checking every two seconds for whatever that takes so much ram. Make run better, smoother and as quiet as can be. Have it give options for certain games to give a email/notification/and 'knock' when that ONE game you want goes on sale.
5. Give players 'price range notifications' - let me say if game XYZ becomes "Under $20" for the first time ever, let me know immediately. Have it include 'you have XYZ reward cash waiting AND there is a sale currently, combined you can now get XYZ game at your preferred price point!.
6. Let players dock other games into Epic like GOG does - GOG's client lets you dock everything into it via it's EXE shortcuts, Epic should embrace the same. Couple this with #4 and you have a reason to keep the client running all the time and use it as well.
7. Customer support/Gamer support - many times we see steam support going above and beyond to help gamers/customers and be not only professional but almost caring. Copy that, we've seen the $100 million a month number from Fortnight. Spend a tiny FRACTION of it on customer support reps and give them the ability to help/support gamers. If a game company fucks over it's customers unfairly, look at it and issue refunds like steam has. If a game breaks and can't work for a user, refund it. Something broken but the user is TRYING and not obviously scamming? Give em a small break or a discount coupon of their choice to cushion the blow.
8. Treat your staff like people too. - yes the market goes up and down, we all know it, we all see it. Learn what 'retained earnings' does for a company. Don't just EXPECT the market to turn one day and then fire a bunch of folks, PLAN for it. The markets will ABSOLUTELY go down one day, have a down time and then up again later. We saw the $5 BILLION with a B that fortnight brought in to Epic, yet this year, 'hey guys, we have to lay off folks' really? You REALLY do? Okay, but that sorta thing sticks in peoples minds. Plan for it with a % held back in a fund specifically for the bad times. Suddenly your staff is more experienced, helpful and retention is amazingly high, which directly leads into better interactions with the customers. There might have been 900 folks to let go, but the multiple years at 4 to 5 BILLION a year seems to say 'we're hurting badly' is ringing a bit hollow. Some gamers see that news and say 'uh huh.' Might want to consider it in any 'fix' for the platform.
Will any of this happen? Doubtful, Epic has had years and years to know all of this in spades. They rake in a ton of money from Fortnight and have tons of folks working for em. Epic DOES give some good free games from time to time, but it still feels like an after thought compared to 'get more fortnight stuff out the door.' At least to this gamer.
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u/Visit-Equal Apr 13 '26
And that's how it should be. Epic should figure out that it either needs to build a good business model or get used to people treating it like a third rate game distribution service (which it currently is).
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u/Spicy_Siomai Apr 13 '26
I have claimed a bunch of great games and even bought some of them again on Steam after playing them for 2-3 hours and liking them. One example is World War Z, tried it for 3 hours on EGS then bought it on Steam on sale and now have 145 hours on it lol.
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u/gametime9936 Apr 13 '26
The fact that they genuinely think steam is a monopoly due to brand loyalty not due to all other launchers being a horrible experience is fucking laughable
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u/RiotLegend Apr 14 '26
I don’t even claim them. Will take a 90% discount from Steam over a free game from them any day.
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u/Account-ysurper Apr 12 '26
I claim the games and never even touch them lol