And yet they couldn't find the pocket change to keep the Unreal Tournament master servers up and games listed.
this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
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Okay, but any significant plans to make the launcher or store itself worth using?
Wondering the same... just last week i found out you cannot view your library in the web browser, only your transactions. Even after all this time.
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Free games are pure marketing. Don't confuse it.
They can take them away at their whim.
Their sole purpose is to get you used to using Epic over other services.
I get into one of the Epic giveaway games sometimes but the launcher always feels like an obstacle rather than an asset. It's not software I enjoy using.
Use Heroic
And try launching games directly because it might be drm free
Don't forget you can always backup and store all your games, the EULA companies make you sign don't substitute the laws: if they are selling you stuff, if the use the word "buy"... they either owe you a product or they are lying.
Pressing "Launch" is the same whether you're in Epic or Steam. I have like 40 games on epic and I've paid them exactly $0. In the same time I spent quite a bit on Steam. It's hard to see what value Epic is getting out of me from this.
The goal is very simple, it's to get you to use Epic. The reason people buy their games on Steam is because people effectively have Steam start on boot. It's the default because "all" your games are there. You use gog or EA app or Ubisoft connect only if there's something that's not on Steam and you boot them up specifically to that one game.
So if you're Epic and you want to compete with Steam how do you do that? You grow the user's library to make sure they start up Epic instead of Steam and you get them in the habit of logging in. Both are accomplished by giving our free games.
It's probably not effective on the old timers who have 100+ games on Steam, but people like me are not the target audience. It's aimed at younger people who don't have a huge steam library and can't really afford to buy a lot of games.
Tldr: Epic is giving away free games to become the default store for the next generation of gamers.
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Epic gave away nearly 600 million ~~games~~ licenses in 2024
True of everyone other than GoG on that front, if we're being honest.
Even GoG says straight up that they are only selling you a licence. The fact that they allow you to download installers for games, updates and dlc is heads and tails above everyone else, but if they close shop and you forget to download the installers, you're in the same boat as if you'd got those games on steam or epic.
Luckily that boat can also be steered to the high seas.
I mean, sure, but I'd argue that is a totally separate boat. The boat we're talking about is the "paying money to not own something, even if you get a download that can potentially be stored indefinitely" boat, not the "maybe pay for an internet connection unless your neighbour didn't password protect their WiFi, and don't pay for anything that all comes as downloads that can be potentially stored indefinitely" boat....
And physical discs.
Today a physical disc is merely a resellable license key.
Which is great, don't get me wrong. I hate it a bit, that we stopped using discs on PC.
That's a bit more of a myth than a lot of people realise. There's the decreasing access to physical media already but pair that with the fact that some discs have nothing more than a serial key on them to unlock access to a downloaded copy of your "purchase"
Can I sell/trade it to somebody else so they can play it?
Yes: I own it.
No: I don't own it.
Already we're seeing utter nonsense of games being removed in the generation they were launched on, meaning games like Forza Horizon titles can't even be purchased unless you have a disc.
I'm happy to agree with you there but I'd add the extra stipulation to you simple yes/no
If I get home from purchasing the physical edition of the game and my internet has happened to go off, can I still play it?
Yes: I own it.
No: I've been sold an almost useless key.
There's a handful of games I've seen like that. The Spyro Remastered Trilogy for example contained just the first game. The rest had to be downloaded.
And while my Cyberpunk disc contains a full hand as far as I can tell, the expansion is just a code and has to be downloaded.
For Cyberpunk, I can say the disc for the PC version was the soundtrack. The game still had to be redeemed on GoG and downloaded in its entirety. A silverlining that I at least got something in the box but certainly a weird side-step.
I was also aware of what was really on the disc prior to release otherwise I'd've called it a con. I can't remember how I knew about that though.
i did my part. got about 40 of them last year.
epic freebies from 2024 played: 0
epic freebies from 2024 installed: 0
the only freebie of theirs i have installed right now is one of the CIVs.
Civ 6 was the biggest one for me. I missed GTA V though
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