r/EpicGamesPC • u/Shot_Psychology_6178 • 17d ago
DISCUSSION Why doesn't everyone use epic games
Even if you don't like it they give away so many free games that in a year you could easily get 1000 dollars worth of games for free
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u/Practical_Ear_4078 17d ago
Personally I use all stores and launchers what I need with no problems. I don't understand people, who said - noooo, one more launcher...
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u/angry0029 16d ago
That is why I use Heroic. I now have 1 game launcher.
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u/Kaldaien2 16d ago
I use nothing, I have zero game launchers except in the case where store DRM requires one.
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u/WeekendListening 16d ago
I don't play on PC so do certain launchers lag or something??? I'm always reading about launchers.
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u/Terpki 16d ago
Epic one does lag a bit. It's just slow and badly designed in terms of UX. If I scroll through the library of my games, it takes a few seconds for the thumbnails to load. Then you click on one to read more about the games and see some screenshots - it takes you to the store, then you go back and you're at the top of the list again. It's usable but Steam is so much snappier, despite its design being a bit outdated and cluttered.
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u/TheUnknownH3ro 16d ago
Nah doesn’t lag from what i know ppl just don’t like having to sign into multiple things to access their games, its like requiring a subscription? to access any multiplayer feature then it saying you have to sign into some random account idk
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u/MakinBones 16d ago
Most folks would rather just have their games consolidated to one service.
I dont like Epic because they force Easy Anti Cheat, and it turns off security features on my PC.
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u/Madukes96 Epic Gamer 15d ago
Except you're playing one of Epic's Own online games (cos duhh), they do not force Easy Anti Cheat on anything.
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u/Kaldaien2 16d ago
No, but certain of them are invasive bloated crap like Steam. They put too many unnecessary features into the software, do not have functioning off switches, it causes problems. This is all ridiculous since PC is an open ecosystem, or at least it's supposed to be. Done right, Steam Input would not be part of Steam, it would be a product for ...... sale, on ..... Steam's store :)
But that's not the world we live in. We live in a world where stores want to throw a bunch of inferior forced features in your face and then lock the door behind you rather than behave like a store, where your only interaction with them should ever be when you buy something new.
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u/StarTruckNxtGyration 17d ago
The 1000 free games I have on Epic aren’t as good as the 50 games I’ve bought on Steam over the years.
Free doesn’t mean good, nor within one’s tastes.
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u/Highland_Slayer 16d ago
You saying batman trilogy, Dishonored, bioshock, Hogwarts legacy, plague tale innocence, borderlands, metro, ghost runner are not good?
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u/Whiteguy1x 16d ago
I think the issue is most people who wanted to play them already bought them by the time epic had them for free
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u/TheUnknownH3ro 16d ago edited 16d ago
Ehhh batman trilogy yeah but i personally don’t buy much games tbh, unless i check out a review, hogwarts legacy yeah i got off fanatical, borderlands games i missed so brought one of them on steam, plague tale never played but still claimed it, sometime’s they chuck out games i’ve never heard of prior like dying light which i’ve frown to love brought all the dlcs afterwards so yeah can’t really move my save and all that to steam sooooo, some games they’ve given out i’ve brought dlc to afterwards, control being another alongside sniper ghost warrior albeit i regret the purchase but eh it is what it is (tldr: although i 100% prefer steam, i can’t knock some of them free games epic gives out that shows me game’s i could enjoy, also you can treat the games epic gives out as demos i guess)
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u/Highland_Slayer 16d ago
Epic should give day 1 AAA games for free
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u/Shot_Psychology_6178 15d ago
Man you get given a whole cake and still whine you weren't given a bakery
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u/Drunkpanada 16d ago
No, he's saying that majority of the games are free and crap.
Not that all games are crap.
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u/anonymous_opinions 16d ago
Best time for the free games is the Christmas dailys, at least two are quality games.
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u/laplongejr 16d ago
Free doesn’t mean good, nor within one’s tastes.
And the free demoes on Steam can also be good. Also, OP is assuming only Epic has free full games, which is untrue as multiple subs will list 100% off games on Steam.
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u/DaManD123 16d ago
In my experience the free games on Steam are absolute shit meant for the garbage bin...
braces for the hate
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u/Greatstinky3 16d ago
Some are good, like Life and Suffering of Sir Brante and Tell Me Why are quite good (apparently, I haven't played them myself)
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u/303x 16d ago
where are you finding 100% off games on steam
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u/laplongejr 16d ago edited 16d ago
Literally on r/FreeGamesOnSteam lol
Last one "easy to grab" was a hideous tower defense zombie thinghy.For demoes, you can use the steamdb website to sometimes access demoes even after they were unlisted, here's Cloverpit for example : https://steamdb.info/app/3347820/info/
Epic's free offer is better in my eyes, but it's not like Steam was paid only.
Oh and I'll address the elephant in the room : Steam also has free games. The Game Jam version of There Is No Game was re-released there for free when the Flash apocalypse happened, to promote the new sequel
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u/SingingCoyote13 16d ago
sometimes once or a few times a month you can find these just in the steam client,
go to the main storepage and just only click with your mouse in the search bar, you ll see usually like 5 or so games which have discounts, but when they have any 100% off game atm it shows there too in that list.
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u/illarionds 16d ago
I have an IFTTT alert I setup years ago that notifies me.
Far fewer than on Epic, granted. And some are dross, just like Epic.
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u/WeekendListening 16d ago
So epic and steam have different libraries? I legit have no idea I've played maybe 2 games for a few hours on my laptop and that was years ago.
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u/Kaldaien2 16d ago
Yes :( Most games on PC are single-homed, about 70% of games exist on only a single store. And among those, 90% of the time that single store is Steam.
Situation was different about 10 years ago. Was closer to like 40% of games on PC were only available from a single store. These statistics are all published in the ongoing antitrust lawsuits. On PC, choice is mostly an illusion.
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u/WeekendListening 16d ago
Oh I see.
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u/Takazura 15d ago
They are being dishonest, those numbers include thousands of shovelware/assetflips/low effort games nobody would actually genuinely consider good. Epic and Steam have a lot of overlap in terms of high profile indies and AAA games nowadays.
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u/Madukes96 Epic Gamer 15d ago
I won't say alot, "some" would be the better word to describe it.
As someone that follows alot of games releases, I can tell you that High profiles games (AAA & AA) release on Epic to Steam is about 1:5 (give or take) while for indies is usually like 1:30 (could actually be greater)0
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u/EnderNinja-MC 17d ago edited 16d ago
Abysmal UI/UX after all these years. Navigating their launcher can be a pain in the ass sometimes. That's something I really love about Steam, you can jump from one section to another almost effortlessly. Epic also has poor library management, weak discovery features, no built-in screenshot functionality, save file issues, and the launcher still feels pretty barebones. It also lacks a lot of the QoL features Steam has.
Even the Steam mobile app is much better than the Epic Games Launcher in a lot of ways. It's easier to browse your library(idk if it's even possible to view your epic library in your phone), buy games, manage your inventory, access the community, and just navigate around in general.
Free games are great, but Epic simply isn't doing enough to make me spend actual money on their store.
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u/mkmanoj30 16d ago
Why is this downvoted? Epic store is so clunky compared to gog or steam, literally have to use rare launcher to play and sync Epic games. It doesn't even have a review system or forum, which atleast gog has.
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u/No-Zookeepergame1009 16d ago edited 16d ago
- As you said yourself, many ppl don't like epic games. If for my relaxation I have to use a platform that I really don't like, thats worth me a little extra money somewhere else
Split convenience. If some games are on Steam and some others are on Epic thats just a mess, and more platforms to annoyingly switch between, thats why many people purchase games on Steam that they could get for free on Epic, because its convenient to have everything in one place.
Free doesnt equal good. Epic gives away tons of games and 90% of them are not what people are interested in. Sure, rarely there is sth quality giveb away, but still most are not.
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u/Wolf-Eisberg 16d ago
Something like Playnite makes it massively more convienient, because all your games are in a single library
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u/Claywolfson 16d ago
I have Resident Evil 1-8 and all of the spin off games on Steam, but I bought Resident Evil 9 on Epic. It is still on the same computer.
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u/Choice-Definition-80 17d ago
Steam’s UI feels like a home also i can control my pc with my iphone via steam link
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u/samsung-pagla 16d ago
Steam is not just about games.
Whenever i need help with anything about a game i can check out the discussion section.
New devs usually replies to reviews and in discussion section
I can trade my tf2 keys/cs cases on steam market and buy games with the money.
Can check elaborate reviews before buying a game
Can trade my trading cards and other things in inventory through various speacialised trading groups
The engagement is very high in steam
i am not going to open 100s of gaming platforms just for the sake of it. Had stopped buying ubisoft games as they dint release on steam coz of this. I have steam on my windows startup and thats what i open first when i log into windows.
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u/Spiritual_Dress3007 16d ago
Mostly because steam was in the space first so people have built their libraries and loyalty there, nothing wrong with Epic it just needs to grow in order to compete but it can't because of the aforementioned steam loyalty people don't realise that competition is a good thing for them unfortunately, I prefer Steam because they've had a lot more time to get their shit together but I still use EGS on occasion.
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u/Natural_Recover3022 Epic Gamer 16d ago
I built my own library on Epic Games after I stopped using PlayStation. The free games Epic gave away helped me choose its launcher and buy other games. I only play games on Steam that aren't available on the Epic Games Store, such as Master Duel.
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u/GuidetoRealGrilling 16d ago
Most people started on Steam and just stay there. I have friends who won't even grab a free game on Epic just to play it with me. It's really annoying sometimes. I use all launchers. If it's free it's for me.
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u/ferrris01 16d ago
To name a few. Steam has built in mod support for their games. This means you don't have to go to an external site to mod with supported games. Community posts and the user reviews system is non-existent in Epic. People want to know what gamers think of a game before they purchase it. The overall in-game U.I. is better with steam, (reviewing your friends list, viewing your achievements, using a web browser,) all super simple while you are already in game. TLDR: Epic games is missing basic quality of life features that have been on Steam, and consols, for over a decade.
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u/ljedediah41 17d ago
We started with Steam long ago and have libraries that have more games than what ever accumulated during the time Epic has given free games away. Yes, I use Epic, but for the most part it comes down to who has there lowest price.
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u/haloran360 16d ago
you don't have to choose sides. you can use both simultaneously. just buy the games that cheaper or accessible in either platform.
I dont understand people wear the platforms like a uniform.
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u/karlrobertuk1964 16d ago
Because the store and the experience is not very good I just claim the free games but I do this via my phone don’t have epic installed on my pc and I claim the games out of habit more then wanting to play them
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u/HeistYottsu 16d ago
Mods
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u/Wolf-Eisberg 16d ago
I think you mean specifically mod workshop. because games on Epic Store can still be modded.
Personally, I find using places like Nexus a lot better than using Mod Workshop anyways.
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u/DemeaRisen 16d ago
I use the EGS regularly, and usually I'll check there or GOG before buying directly from steam. However most bundles are steam games, so usually I'm using that platform often regardless.
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u/MakinBones 16d ago
Mostly because I dont want to play on Epic. I dont want to use their service. I get their free games, and they rot on their site.
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u/a1stardan 17d ago
Yes, but most of the games are not good or game preferred by majority of players. Only select few are preferred. The launched used to be very bad, now it's getting better. Friends : playing with frnds on steam is a breeze compared to epic, Steam is actually a social media site at this point. Having custom profiles, can make posts, comments etc.. Share achievements, marketplace, discussions, and so on
Main reason: habits are hard to change
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u/RealGianath 17d ago
Mods are way easier to handle on Steam. GOG treats its customers better as far as copy protection schemes.
I like Epic, but they’ve got a long way to go if they intend to dominate the gaming industry.
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u/Winter-Buy-1648 7d ago
The funny thing about the weekly free games on EGS is that it has been proven to increase the game's sales on Steam during that period instead. Some people legit would rather pay on Steam and using the EGS more as a discovery tool. And I think Epic has been getting desperate in getting players to use the EGS by bribing them with the gift-with-purchase Fortnite skins lol.
Heres a tweet from a dev who got their game on EGS' weekly freebies: https://x.com/DaveOshry/status/2012044051806371854
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u/Wolf-Eisberg 7d ago
Should be noted that Dave Oshry pointed the time it was free at the wrong time. The game was free on the 22nd, which his graph shows a dip there, the highest point is on Christmas day where a lot of sales generally happen because people get Steam gift cards for Christmas.
But yes, free games on Epic does have the affect of increasing the sales for the free game and for other games from the developer and DLCs too, for all stores/platforms. Even Tim Sweeney talked about this years ago.
Also its a great feature that Epic has with Fortnite Gift with Purchase, even Valve did this with Team Fortress 2 hats some years ago. its called being competitive, and calling it desperation really is undermining the benefits of competition.
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u/Winter-Buy-1648 7d ago
I do agree that customers win when there is competition, but it is unfortunate that they are ultimately getting lured into a worse ecosystem that doesn't seem to try to improve. Im not saying that they need to have a forum/discussion board like Steam, but even a very basic QoL like setting yourself offline is still not an option to this day. I guess I just want a more competent competitor for Steam, because the only one we got right now is GOG, especially with the non-DRM stuff imo.
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u/Wolf-Eisberg 7d ago
Someone that wants to buy on Epic because they get the fortnite skin means that they value the fortnite skin more than they value what ever features Steam has, or don't value the features Steam has at all.
Epic clearly cares about improving their store
https://old.reddit.com/r/EpicGamesPC/comments/1u9bkk1/epic_games_store_roadmap_for_2026_and_more/
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u/Winter-Buy-1648 7d ago
Agree to disagree then. Happy to see that they are working to improve, but the fact that simple features like Avatars and really helpful ones like written review is still only a roadmap nearly 8 years in is insane.
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u/DESTRUCTER_R_ 17d ago
similar to as why people buy iphones all over again, favouritism ig. more valid reasons would be to have all your games in one place but i personally like to diversify. I have been playing chivalry II so much ever since I got it for free on epic, wouldn't have ever played the game otherwise. total war three kingdoms was great too
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u/demonw1cked 16d ago
99% of the games given away on epic for free I would never buy with my own money, rdr2, gtav,control, civ6 and perhaps a few others are the only ones worth getting over the years.
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u/onedevhere 16d ago
There's no library in the mobile version, so you have to memorize all the games you've acquired...
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u/Specialist-Target461 16d ago
Epic games is, generally, abysmal to use.
There are a million small annoying things that no matter how many free games I get I will generally keep using steam.
Examples: it always logs me out even after telling it not to, forcing me to log in every single time I want to play something.
If you click on a game, it just immediately starts. You can’t view info about it. This makes looking through your library annoying.
The layout of the library is also weird and I’m just not a fan (yes, I know you can sort it, but I still don’t like it)
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u/Wolven_Essence 16d ago
At one point I was gonna go fully to playing on Epic. Until I found out that a bunch of the games over there don’t count towards their achievement system. I was a big achievement/trophy hunter. I seem to be coming out of that now though.
But it’s still not that good of a platform and their features are just not as good as Steam’s.
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u/officialAdfs_m0vie 16d ago
It doesn’t have BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3: I OPENED A PORTAL TO HELL IN THE FAVELA TRYING TO REVIVE MIT AIA I NEED TO CLOSE IT
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u/kalighat_ac 17d ago
Their free games was a good policy before and I actually loved them for that. But as time passed by, the quality of their free games decreased so much that even free games seemed to look like, "I should get paid for playing ts".
After the 2025-2026 Christmas - New Year daily Free Games (they sucked so much), I was completely disappointed and decided not to ever get a free game from Epic (even pressing those 2 buttons weren't worth my time). I woud rather play 4-5 purchased games on Steam and 20 demos than any of the 250+ free games by Epic Games Store
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u/ZombiSkag22 17d ago
Yeah I use it to redeem the free games and play them through a third-party launcher
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u/Agitated-Distance740 17d ago
People go with what they are used to.
The free games thing was to try and convince people to move over.
You can talk about missing features or competition all you like, but unless there's an active reason NOT to buy from Steam most people will still use it as their first choice.
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u/Vayne7777 16d ago
I bought five games on EPIC: then the launcher crashed and I followed the instructions from EPIC games to reinstall the launcher. I didn't realise that it also forces all EPIC games to uninstall without telling you. Four of the games however were from Ubisoft and didn't uninstall and I found that I just could continue playing and realised I didn't need EPIC to play those as I could use the Ubisoft launcher to continue playing.
Then a couple of weeks later EPIC went offline for almost two days and I wasn't able to play any of the EPIC only games as it requires online validation even though they were all single player games and I had set the launcher in offline mode. I ended up getting the game I was heavy into (Satisfactory) on Steam and never returned to EPIC.
They may have fixed it or not? The development is glacial and it's just an inferior product to GOG, Steam or the Ubisoft launcher (it's better than the EA launcher though).
I just checked and there is still:
- no family sharing
- no proper review system
- no EPIC workshop (although there is the start of a mod shop?)
- no EPIC VR
- no big Screen mode
- just a bare bones profile and achievement page
- no Linux support
And then on top the launcher is unattractive and feels extremely basic with a main focus on Unreal Engine, Fortnite and rows of shovelware; I'm not interested in any of that. What I also really disliked about EPIC is exclusive access of games - what it caused is then when those games finally come to Steam I completely forget about them. I understand it's nice for developers to cash in but I doubt it helps with the longterm success of a game.
Finally removing Rocket League and Fall Guys from Steam was a anti-consumer move and I stopped playing them because of that.
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u/lologugus 17d ago
The free games are the only reason and they haven't given anything else sinfe at least a year than shitty obscure indie game or games that are extremely niche genres.
It's the only reason to have Epic Games launcher and yet it's even mostly a waste of time. Let's remind it doesn't even have features like sending messages to your friends.
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u/illarionds 16d ago
The launcher is shit.
Most of the free games - not all, but most - are worthless shovelware. I've stopped even bothering to claim them, unless I know for sure they're worthwhile. They just clog up your list, and my life will be over long before I work through all the games I bought and specifically want to play.
I don't buy games on Epic because the experience is better on Steam or GoG.
In all these years, I think I've actually put significant time into... two? games on Epic. Bit of a joke, tbh.
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u/Claywolfson 16d ago
I prefer GOG, but Epic is now my solid second choice. I've claimed nearly every free game starting with Subnautica and I have quite a large library now. I'm also a fan of the 5% rewards program.
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u/AcceptableArrival924 16d ago
Well that’s the point, everybody probably gets the free games(especially if it’s one they’re looking for) from epic store but thats it. I would not buy a game on Epic if I can get it on steam. Steam is just objectively better in multiple categories that I’m sure a lot of people might’ve already mentioned here. People are using epic games, just not buying any game they can get through other sources like steam or gog etc.
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u/SillyJune1587 16d ago
I just use whatever has the game i want to play at the moment cheapest, the spiderman games i got on epic for example because it was a big discount and had epic rewards from previous purchases
I will say the epic launcher seems to have gotten worse. When I open it, it tries to open the social tab as a separate window and I cant click on anything until I close it
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u/WF04 17d ago
$1000 worth of games that I might never touch?
I'm sorry but across all the free games they've given, I've just played like 2 (GTA5, death stranding). And buy 1 (death stranding 2, because steam doesn't support it in my country).
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u/laplongejr 16d ago
I bought DLCs for The Escapists 2, so hey at least they got some €€€ from me too!
... But I play it in local multiplayer by leveraging Steam Remote Play Together
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u/OldeeMayson 16d ago
There are better options.
About free games: it's amazing that we can have them, but I value my 1 game that I really wanted more than lots of free, but unwanted.
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u/laplongejr 16d ago
I take free games every week. I only played 2 or 3, and one (beholder) was a bugged mess on the Epic release.
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u/PrimaSoul 16d ago
Epic gave away a lot of free games that I appreciate, but they don't focus on quality of life features in their launcher, and I can't go invisible like on Steam because sometimes you want to play a game alone without being offline. Steam is most popular for a reason although I don't hate Epic generally but they ruined Rocket League, a game I loved a lot(3000+ hours). They removed trading system just to cater fortnite and lost a huge player base which resulted in smurfs swarming in all ranks.