A PC gamer's PSA · Updated
(Epic Games Store)
Competition is great. Buying exclusivity isn't competition—it's removing your choices and calling it a deal.
Read the casewhere-to-buy.exe
Hypothetical sequel you've waited years for
Your Favorite Game 2
Stores you can buy from: 5
Available everywhere. Pick your store.
Epic Games Store launched onto the PC scene around December 2018 to directly compete with the likes of Steam, Origin, Uplay, GOG, Battle.net, etc.—Steam being a well-established player in this space, launching around 2003.
Competition is good, right? Well, Epic seems to think buying and funding exclusivity deals with developers is the way to gain traction in the market. This has led to many developers promising to only release their game on PC via the Epic platform, and not allowing Steam and others to carry the game digitally; sometimes with a delay, sometimes “perpetually”.
Epic seems to think buying exclusivity is the way to gain traction in the market.
The console world has had the concept of “exclusives” for years (and I don't believe those are right either). But this is now spilling into the PC realm, which historically hasn't had this sort of attitude—and with Steam being king as long as it has, Epic is looking to shake things up.
Epic's approach is completely anti-consumer, and a huge step backwards. Epic's platform contains nowhere near the feature set and policies that Steam has. I hope this site can bring awareness to how scummy Epic's practices are, and encourage you to vote with your wallet to send them a strong message.
Some developers feel that Steam's revenue split is unfair. In 2018 Valve changed their revenue share to 30% of Steam sales for the first $10M, 25% from $10M to $50M, and 20% after that. Epic, on the other hand, takes 12%—and since June 2025, nothing at all on a game's first $1M in sales each year. A very enticing proposal to developers.
Let's be fair about it. Drag the slider and see what each store takes:
30.0% effective
0% on the first $1M, then 12%
The developer keeps $180K more on Epic. That's the pitch—and honestly, a better split isn't the problem. Locking the game away from every other store is.
But Epic ties its best deal to exclusivity. Its Epic First Run program, launched in August 2023, lets developers keep 100% of their revenue for six months—as long as the game launches on no other PC store. On top of that, Epic has paid publishers directly for exclusives over the years, on terms that are never made public. Publishers keep taking these offers, and games keep getting locked to the Epic Games Store.
The bottom line is: Epic likes making money. Publishers and developers like making money. If someone offered you a nice amount of cash (or a special deal on sales in your store) in order to be exclusive, you may be tempted to take it. But in doing so, don't forget the message you're sending to consumers—you don't want your customers being able to own your games on the platform of their choice, and you care more about money instead.
I've heard the argument that the EGS deal really helps indie developers, and their games wouldn't exist without the exclusivity bump. This may be true to some degree, but it doesn't hide the fact that it's preventing the consumer from choosing which store to support, and it's still wrong in my book.
This might come off as a Steam fanboy speaking, but they do so many things right. Valve runs the Steam platform, which freely provides an API called Steamworks that developers can use for matchmaking, achievements, microtransactions, mods, patching and more—anything that hopes to compete with Steam would want these too, right?
Epic published a Trello board with their roadmap, and while I appreciated the transparency, the priority order was frankly laughable. As of May 2020, “Storefront – Trending” was next on the list. “Recently shipped” included wishlists and curated collections—you know, things a store should have before it launches. (Epic has since restructured the board and no longer shows priorities or dates.)
Being a gamer for many, many years now, these are the features that mean the most to me—and how long Epic has taken to catch up:
Steam
10/10
for years
EGS, 2020
1/10
barely
EGS, 2026
4/10
+1 partial
Play a game on another device or room in your house, streamed seamlessly from your main gaming PC.
EGS ✕ still missingStream a game so someone can play along remotely—even if they don't own it.
EGS ✕ still missingShare your game library with family members, with some caveats.
EGS ✕ still missingA badge of honor. You grind for hours on some of these. Compare with your friends and the world!
EGS ✓ added 2022Never worry where your saves live. New PC? Your progress syncs automatically.
EGS ✓ added 2019Hear from actual players—recent and all-time—before you spend a cent.
EGS ◐ star ratings onlyA bundle's price drops to account for games you already own, saving you money.
EGS ✕ still missingBuy a game for a friend, right from the store.
EGS ✓ added late 2025Buy multiple games and DLC in a single checkout. Convenient!
EGS ✓ added 2021Browse and launch your library with a controller from the couch, almost like a console.
EGS ✕ only promisedCredit where it's due: since this page first went up, Epic has shipped a shopping cart (2021), achievements and star ratings (2022), and—seven years after launch—gifting (late 2025). Written reviews and controller support are promised for their rebuilt launcher.
But look at the timeline. These are things a store should have before it launches, and Epic spent those years buying exclusives instead of building them. Streaming, Remote Play, family sharing and fair bundle pricing are still missing.
Steam also has a long history of supporting other operating systems like macOS and Linux, and its Linux work is what makes the Steam Deck possible. EGS has a macOS client, but as of this update there's still no Linux one—Epic has only said it's coming “soon”.
This isn't a snap judgement—it's something I've spent quite a bit of time on. Here are the common things I hear, and my responses:
They say“Store XYZ shouldn't have a monopoly on the PC games market!”
I say Steam may be one of the most popular, but it's definitely not alone, nor a monopoly. EA, Ubisoft and Rockstar all run their own launchers, and GOG, itch.io and Humble are right there too. EA and Ubisoft even pulled their new games from Steam for a while (Ubisoft sent them to Epic instead), and both came back—EA in 2020, Ubisoft in 2022. Players buying where they want to buy is how it's supposed to work.
They say“Epic gives away a lot of great games for free. I don't see anyone else doing that.”
I say Epic isn't the only store that has ever done this. Feel free to take advantage of it—it just doesn't make up for anything else. It means they have deeper pockets and are willing to take the hit to win a popularity contest (and get people installing their store).
They say“Just use what you want. Why does this bother you so much?”
I say Boiled down: Epic is choosing not to compete with other stores by building something better. They're spending money—and they have a lot of it—to buy exclusivity instead.
They say“Steam has exclusives too. You don't see Counter-Strike on other stores.”
I say That's the difference between a first-party and third-party game. Valve made Counter-Strike and runs it on its own platform, the same way Epic keeps Fortnite on its own launcher. Paying someone else's game to stay off other stores is a different thing entirely. And to be fair, Epic now offers developers a free toolkit (Epic Online Services) with matchmaking, achievements and anti-cheat that works on any store—which makes buying exclusivity even harder to justify.
I'll be honest—there's no silver bullet here. But there are things you can do:
Don't buy exclusives on PC. Wait it out, or skip it. Money is the only signal that reliably gets heard.
Politely let developers and publishers know—on social media and through their contact forms—why you won't buy their game on Epic.
It likely won't change much, but it's worth a shot. There's a contact form on their help page. Some folks have gone as far as asking Epic support to delete their accounts.
Link people here so they understand why gamers won't tolerate these anti-consumer practices.
I realize not everyone shares my opinion, or may have more to add on the subject. Feel free to chime in below!
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