Steam is still unbeatable?
The Epic Vs Apple lawsuit continues to bring its share of revelations. spotted before computer games, a document from Epic used by Apple in its defense and regarding expectations regarding the Epic Games Store. We know that the Epic Game Store lost $181 million in 2019 and is expected to lose $279 million in 2020, then $139 million in 2021. At best, Epic expects a gross profit for 2027.
There is still work to be done
Despite the games on offer and communication that insists on revenue sharing more consistently with development studios, Epic has been struggling to attract the PC community, for several reasons.
The first comes from the Steam era. A lot of gamers own most of their games on Steam and would rather wait for Steam to launch rather than shop the Epic Games Store. GOG.com solved this problem by allowing its libraries from other stores to be combined, but nothing in that aspect of Epic.
The second problem is the features that are common, but absent from the Epic Games Store, starting with the FPS counter or the ability to take pictures easily. The functionality is basic in Steam, Uplay or Origin, but it seems very difficult to implement for the people behind Unreal Engine 5. Instead of coming up with a final product that could improve, Epic from the start launched a store that is below the competition in terms of functionality. It’s tarnished its reputation since its launch, and two years later, the lack of these essential features drove that point home.
Tencent owns 40% of Epic. Make no mistake, China also has shares in Activision, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft. On the other hand, his interest in Epic games is particularly high, enough to raise red flags and raise fear of data leaks. Since China no longer has very good press in the US regarding its management of democracy (especially its dominant views), this also falls on the Epic Games Store. However, Epic has announced that it will not ban any dissident players in Hong Kong from Fortnite, which has not yet been banned. Blizzard case with Blitzchung.
Epic’s free games policy attempts to entice players to get them used to playing in the Epic Games Store and then spending. Unfortunately, the store does not offer all the features of Steam, and this is its biggest drawback. Instead of reaching like a steam engine with an end product equal to or better than the Commander, Epic threw a firecracker into the fray. It’s hard then to go up the ramp, especially since, two years after its launch, it still lacks many features that would make you want to spend your money on the Epic Games Store version instead of Steam.
