Epic Games Store vs Steam: Free Games and Real Sales
On PC, there are two digital game stores most players talk about all the time. Steam with its massive seasonal sales and endless feature set, and the Epic Games Store with its constant stream of free games. Both are fighting for your attention and your wallet, but a recent example shows that Epic’s big freebie strategy might actually be helping Steam more than itself.
New Blood CEO Dave Oshry shared that when his game Blood West went free on the Epic Games Store, its sales did not just climb on Epic. They exploded on Steam. According to him, Blood West sold around 200 percent more on Steam that same day. Console sales also jumped.
So why is a free giveaway on one launcher turning into a paid sales boost on another? It comes down to how attached PC gamers are to their platform of choice and how important user experience really is.
Free Games vs A Better Launcher Experience
The Epic Games Store has built its identity around free games. Every few weeks there is a new title you can claim permanently, and over time people have built huge libraries without spending anything. It is such a big part of Epic’s strategy that PC gaming sites maintain live lists of what is free right now.
Even Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has admitted that some of the exclusivity deals they paid for were not great investments. But he has described the free games program as “magical” and “economical” for growing the platform. From a pure marketing point of view, free is powerful. It gets people to install the launcher and build a library.
The problem is that once people are in, they still have to want to use that launcher. And in that area, Epic is struggling. The Epic Games launcher has often been criticised as clunky and barebones. Sweeney himself has bluntly said that the reason people call it clunky is because it actually is clunky.
In a recent comparison of PC game launchers, Epic’s client scored badly for things like:
- Limited features compared to Steam
- Rough performance
- An unattractive and basic interface
By contrast, Steam remains the default home for most PC gamers. It has a huge feature set built up over years such as reviews, forums, achievements, cloud saves, mods, remote play, and a refined library system. On top of that, players simply like how it feels to use. That sense of comfort is hard for competitors to break.
This is where Blood West’s situation gets interesting. When Epic makes a game free, PC players hear the buzz. They see the news, the memes, and the discussions. The game suddenly has a lot more visibility. But when it is time to actually play, many people would rather pay a small amount on Steam than go through Epic.
One meme that Oshry reposted captured this feeling. It joked that a cheap game on Steam is better than a free one on Epic. Judging by the 40,000 plus likes on that post, a lot of players agree. For many, the convenience of keeping their library in one place and using their preferred launcher is worth more than saving a few pounds or dollars.
Why Steam Keeps Winning Even When Epic Pays For Freebies
Epic is not the only company with a game launcher that rubs people the wrong way. Many publisher specific launchers feel awkward next to Steam, GOG Galaxy, or Battle.net. The difference is that smaller platforms like itch.io win goodwill from players by supporting indie developers and offering a more open feel. Epic does not always get that same community love despite the free games and big investments.
At the same time, a large share of game developers believe Steam has something close to a monopoly on PC games. Players are used to having everything in one place, and they do not like splitting their library across multiple apps if they can avoid it. That habit gives Steam a huge advantage.
In theory, a free game on Epic should be a perfect lure. You get the game at zero cost and you might then be more willing to buy other titles there. In practice, the Blood West example shows another outcome. The Epic giveaway acts as free advertising, but the paying customers run straight to Steam or to consoles where they are more comfortable buying and playing.
It also highlights a funny truth in digital pricing. When the same game is a few pounds on Steam versus free on Epic, players mentally treat those low prices as “basically free” anyway. There is a running joke in PC gaming about how two pounds feels like zero pounds when it comes to game sales. So if the choice is a slightly discounted game on the launcher you love or free on the one you dislike, many will happily pay.
For Epic, this creates a real challenge. Free games clearly succeed at getting attention. They increase player awareness and can boost a game’s wider sales across platforms. But if the core launcher experience does not improve, all that attention might continue to flow straight into Steam’s ecosystem instead.
For PC gamers, the upside is simple. Competition between stores means more free games, deeper discounts, and better features over time. If Epic wants to convert all those free claims into long term users, it will need to keep polishing the launcher so that firing it up feels as smooth and satisfying as logging into Steam. Until then, expect more stories of Epic funded giveaways turning into unexpected Steam success.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/turns-out-having-your-game-be-free-on-epic-is-great-advertising-for-steam-sales-new-blood-chief-says-blood-west-sold-like-200-percent-more-the-day-it-was-a-freebie-on-egs/
