Just over a year ago, Epic Games launched their storefront, hoping to take a chunk of the PC market away from Valve and Steam. To do that, they employed two key strategies, one of which was highly controversial, and it seems both of those will continue into the new year.
Throughout 2019, Epic Games gave away 73 titles for free on their store. It began as a bi-weekly giveaway, then a weekly giveaway and even had times when games were given away daily. While we don’t know the structure of what the giveaways will be, free games will be on the menu, according to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in a press release.
Another tactic the company used was third party exclusives, something that was unprecedented at the time. It created a firestorm of controversy, especially when big titles like Borderlands 3 ended up as timed exclusives to the storefront. Sweeney says the two tactics will continue for the foreseeable future as well as says they are the reasons the story saw the success it did.
“Exclusives have been critical in gaining momentum in the presence of a competitor that began 2019 with more than 90% market share. Securing exclusives for Epic means we can significantly assist developers with product funding and invest in marketing and awareness knowing that these efforts bring in new customers to our store, rather than just sending more business to the incumbent.”
So what games will be given away and what major games will be secured in 2020 is something we’ll just have to wait and see. Look forward to all the free stuff and the continued anger and controversy for an all new year.