Can the Epic Games Store Survive?

It has been a while since I last discussed the Epic Games Store but I thought, with the recent clash between Apple and Epic, that it might be worth discussing how the Epic Games Store has performed so far and if it is likely to survive and become a long term competitor to Steam.

The first thing that I should clarify is that I have never used the Epic Games Store myself. Instead I have been keeping tabs on how it has affected the video game industry and I have spoken before about how I considered the Epic Games Store to be a good thing for the industry. However, I have many concerns that the Epic Games Store may not be able to survive the many fights that Epic are initiating.

First off, it is important to note that the only reason that Epic Games were able to create a store in the first place was the gigantic success of Fortnite. It is estimated that Fortnite made $2.4 billion in 2018 and, while it has declined somewhat since then, it still managed to bring in $1.8 billion in 2019. However, with the banning of Fortnite from both the Apple Store and Google Play, it is likely that Fortnite’s revenue will continue to decline (at least until Epic, Apple and Google come to some agreement) and the Epic Games Store will have to become more self sufficient.

Epic proudly published statistics for the first year of the Epic Games Store near the beginning of 2020 and, while they might seem impressive, these figures actually make me more confident that the Epic Games Store is losing Epic a lot of money. The first figure that Epic gave was that the store had grossed $680 million in its first year. That might seem impressive but it’s actually quite deceiving with only $251 million coming from third party sales (i.e. around $429 million came from Fortnite). With Epic only taking 12% from each sale, they have only made around $30 million from third party sales.

This $30 million is immediately turned into red when we look at how much Epic Games have spent on securing exclusives on their store. While figures can be hard to find, it is estimated that Control, a single game, cost Epic $10.4 million to secure as a 1 year exclusive. Another game, Phoenix Point, apparently cost Epic $2 million to secure as a 1 year exclusive and while we have not been provided with the costs of securing other exclusives such as Metro Exodus, Borderlands 3, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more, we can be sure that these costs have added up to a deficit for Epic Games’ non-Fortnite revenue.

Since December 2018, Epic Games have been releasing free games every month on their store and it is interesting to note that these titles come from third party developers and publishers. While this has apparently been quite successful with an estimated 200 million free games claimed in 2019, there is no doubt in my mind that it’s costing Epic Games to secure these releases. I was fully expecting Epic Games to stop distributing these games within 1 year of the release of their store but they decided to continue the scheme.

I am not saying that the Epic Games Store cannot survive. In fact, I think Epic Games Store, of all the various PC digital distribution platforms, is in the best position to challenge Steam. However, they must begin winding down the costs of operating their store if they have any chance of turning the store into something profitable. Fortnite remains the only reason that Epic can continue to spend as much money as they have so far and, with it likely that Fortnite will see their mobile revenue decline due to contesting Apple’s and Google’s rules, I’d argue that they should start sooner rather than later. Let me know your thoughts on Epic Games Store, their revenue data and if you agree or disagree with any points I’ve made.

Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.