Emmanuel Rosier, director of market intelligence at games industry analysts Newzoo, has a blunt verdict on the Epic Games Store: it's too far behind to catch up.
"I don't really see how they can turn that around," Rosier says, “because Steam has become so inevitable.”
Here's the lowdown. Epic announced earlier this year that its launcher was getting a ground-up rebuild, with a June update confirming the new client starts up 5 to 6.5 times faster on average. The redesigned storefront is also set to bring personalized game recommendations, quick-access categories, and patch notes directly on the shop page. Useful features, for sure. The problem is these are things players expected back in 2018 when the store launched.
Use code TRYHARD33 at checkout to redeem this offer before code expires again.
Get 33% Off GAMES+ Subscription
The free games trap
The Epic Games Store's most visible strategy has always been the weekly free game giveaway. Titles like Control, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ghostwire: Tokyo have all cycled through the program. The intent was clear: pull players onto the platform, get them browsing, get them buying.
What most players miss is that the strategy appears to have backfired in a specific way. "They get players by giving free games," Rosier explains, "but people just go, they log in, they get the free games, they don't even play them. It's almost like collecting games rather than actually playing them."
The data backs up that behavioral read. When Blood West was offered free on EGS, its Steam sales jumped roughly 200 percent the same day. Players claimed the freebie, then went to Steam to actually buy it, because that's where their library already lived. The free game became advertising for a competitor.
Fighting too many battles at once
Rosier identifies a strategic overextension problem that goes beyond just Steam. "The challenge I think Epic is facing is that they try to win everywhere in the past few years. They try to win against Steam, they try to win against Apple, against Google Play, and probably they run out of steam where they cannot fight all these battles at the same time."
The Apple legal battle alone consumed years of attention and resources. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been vocal about the company's broader platform ambitions, but Rosier's read is that spreading focus across multiple fronts has diluted the store's ability to close the gap with Valve.
Steam's moat is deeper than just features. It's years of reviews, wishlists, friend lists, playtime tracking, workshop mods, and community hubs. A faster launcher and patch notes on the store page don't address any of that.
Where Epic actually wins: Fortnite as a gaming platform
Rosier is notably more optimistic when the conversation shifts from the store to Fortnite itself. "They probably need to focus on what really matters, which I think is Fortnite. You can see they put a lot of thought in Fortnite right now."
The current Fortnite season illustrates the shift. Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Crash Bandicoot, Mega Man, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, and Joker from Persona 5 are all in the game right now. Epic has leaned hard into videogame crossovers specifically, and Rosier sees that as a smart repositioning.
"They are not afraid of other games," he says. "It's a gaming platform that's not even competing anymore with other games. If you are launching a game, it makes sense to do some marketing within Fortnite."
He even floats the idea that a GTA 6 event inside Fortnite would make sense at this point, using the game's massive player base as a marketing channel rather than a competitor to route around.
The collectible "sprites" system added recently also gets a positive mention. "It's not about winning that much; it's about completing your collection of sprites," Rosier notes, pointing to how the mechanic adds a layer of engagement beyond the battle royale loop itself.
What this means for gamers
For players, the practical picture hasn't changed much. Steam remains the default for PC gaming, and the EGS launcher improvements, while real, don't change the platform's fundamental position. The free games are still worth claiming, and some of them are genuinely excellent titles worth your time. Check out our gaming guides for deep dives on some of the best games that have passed through both storefronts.
The key here is that Epic's strongest play going forward looks less like a store war and more like turning Fortnite into the gaming world's biggest crossover hub. If you're curious about titles showing up in that ecosystem, like games built around deep progression systems, our War Thunder nations tier list and Halo: Campaign Evolved graphics mode guide cover the kind of platform-defining games that define where players actually spend their time.
Epic has until the end of 2026 to show whether the launcher rebuild and storefront redesign translate into real user growth. If those numbers don't move, Rosier's read may prove correct sooner than anyone expected.
