I usually like to take a look at the results of the Epic Games Store early in the year but, for some reason, the Epic Games Store 2022 Year in Review was delayed this year from the usual release in January to an unusual release in March. Nonetheless, it has now been released and presents some interesting information although one particular aspect has made some wonder if there are some signs of trouble for the Epic Games Store. However, it’s not an outright bleak view and, having spoken about the store several times in the past, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the figures they provided as well as the current state of the store.
As you might’ve expected, we should start by taking a look at the brand new year in review that Epic has released. Let’s start with everything besides the one glaring sign of trouble so we can delve a bit deeper into that specifically. First up, the total PC users of the Epic Games Store has grown from about 194 million in 2021 to 230 million in 2022 but, more importantly, the monthly active users has also increased from 62 million to 68 million. Their social media has also seen some mild growth with their Instagram increasing from 5.8 million to 5.9 million followers while their Twitter has grown from 4.4 million followers to 4.8 million. Their Facebook page has been stagnant at 1.3 million followers but they’ve also set up a TikTok account that has gained 300,000 followers. Interestingly, Epic seem to be taking a page from Valve’s book by categorising the top games by player spending and engagement into abstract tiers of Mythic, Legendary and Epic.
The four year in review charts that Epic has provided.
However, this is where we get to the signs of trouble for the Epic Games Store. If you take a look at consumer spending on the Epic Games Store, you’ll see that, for the first time ever, the overall spending has actually dropped! It’s a relatively small drop from $840 million to $820 million but, given how much money Epic Games Store is losing, any drop at this point is devastating as the Epic Games Store needs to be seeing continual growth if it ever has a chance to make a profit. The saving grace within this dilemma is that the drop in revenue comes from Epic’s own games with third-party game spending actually increasing from $300 million to $355 million. While this does mean that Epic themselves are making less money than in previous years, particularly due to their 12% revenue share, it means that the store itself is becoming more profitable for companies that release their games on the platform.
As for the future of the store, Epic Games are clearly realising that a change in strategy is in order although they don’t go far enough in my personal opinion. Epic seem to have realised that their strategy of acquiring third-party exclusives has been far too expensive for what they get in return. Instead, their future strategy seems to have shifted to focusing on only a few large games that are likely to drive consumers to their store as well as funding and publishing games from third-party developers that will, in their own words, be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for “a long time,“. They are also going to start letting developers self-publish their games as long as they provide cross-play across PC stores as well as follow some guidelines provided. While certainly great for developers and consumers, in theory at least, Epic is going to have to work hard to maintain discoverability which even Steam struggles with.
However, Epic are still making some mistakes, at least as far as I’m concerned, when it comes to their future strategies. I’ve spoken about how the continual release of free games probably drives consumer spending down as their backlogs increase but Epic have announced that they’re going to continue this program into 2023. While this is good for consumers as they are continually being given free games, many of which are very high-quality, I believe the money being spent to secure these games would be better spent on improving the store itself. While the Epic Games Store has made great strides since its rather dismal launch, the features available pale compared to Steam or even GOG and I would personally consider the quality of the storefront itself more important than continuing to pump out free games on a weekly basis.
I do genuinely want to see the Epic Games Store do well for, if no other reason, the sake of competitiveness in the PC gaming market and I do admit that some statistics from this year in review are quite impressive but the drop in revenue from 2022 is cause for serious concern, particularly since we know that the Epic Games Store hasn’t been profitable in past years. I will, of course, continue to observe how the Epic Games Store is doing and how their strategies shift but it’s clear that Epic still have a long way to go before the store can be considered viable. Let me know your thoughts on the signs of trouble for the Epic Games Store, what your thoughts are on the Epic Games Store 2022 Year in Review, how you think the Epic Games Store could improve itself and any additional information you might have on the topic.
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.