Steam vs Epic Games Store

Digital storefronts battle it out for your money

- IAN EVENDEN

FROM ITS LAUNCH in 2003, Valve’s Steam digital game store has had things pretty much its own way. In 2013 it held 75 percent of the market, and in 2017 represented 18 percent of global PC game sales. In 2019 it had 95 million active monthly users. It has branched out into game controllers, gaming boxes and even an operating system. If there was ever any doubt that PC gaming is huge, then Steam is all the evidence you need.

There have been competitors, of course. Who remembers Games For Windows Live? They have tended to be single-publisher stores, however, such as Ubisoft’s Uplay and EA’s Origin. It wasn’t until 2012 that it got competition, when GOG—a previously retro-only store operated by Witcher developer CD Projekt—began selling more recent titles. Then, in December 2018, the Epic Games Store followed Fortnite by moving in on the game store scene.

Epic brought with it one simple promise that made it attractive to gamers: Free games. Not free-to-play games like Fortnite, but paid-for titles, given away for free. This program began in 2019, and there’s generally one or two a month, depending on the games’ age ratings—if the main title shuts out younger players, another will be made available alongside it with lower requirements—rolling over on a Thursday. They range from tiny indie offerings such as Abzu or Into The Breach all the way up to Grand Theft Auto V or the Batman Arkham games. The free games have kept coming throughout 2020, though there’s no evidence they will continue to do so perpetually.