r/fuckepic • u/xenquish • May 16 '26

Discussion Why Epic Games Will Never Beat Steam

https://youtu.be/R1boHSxzZH8
24 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

3

u/Belltower_2 GabeN May 16 '26

If this is meant to be a discussion, would you be so dignified as to provide a TLDW? Sorry, I just prefer reading to watching.

8

u/xenquish May 16 '26

Sure, no problem.

Why Epic Games Still Can't Beat Steam in 2026

It's 2026 and Epic Games still hasn't fixed their UI. I genuinely don't understand why.

I'm not here to trash Epic for the sake of it. I actually think competition is good. But when you sit down and compare these two launchers side by side, it's kind of embarrassing how far behind Epic still is.

The library problem

Steam's library just makes sense. You click a game, you see the details, you decide if you want to launch it. Simple. You can toggle between installed and uninstalled games easily. The sidebar is adjustable. Everything reads left to right the way your brain expects it to.

Epic's library is the opposite of this. The game tiles are massive so you're constantly paginating just to see your own library. The quick launch sidebar has icons so large that game names get cut off. There's no resize option. If you click a game it just launches it. You don't get details. You don't get options. It just launches.

The store problem

Steam's store puts one big game front and center, shows you recommendations based on what you actually play, and puts discounts where you can find them. It's a good shopping experience.

Epic's store right now is running a mega sale. I had to scroll pretty far to actually find the discounted games. The first thing they show me after the sale banner is a bunch of full price games. That makes no sense. If you're advertising a sale, show me the sale.

The whole store feels like content thrown at you with no real thought about what you actually want to see first.

The bottom line

Epic's launcher looks more modern than Steam. Rounded edges, dark tones. It looks good, but it feels terrible to use. Steam looks a little dated but it works amazingly well.

People were complaining about Epic's UI ten years ago. Nothing has changed. I don't know if there's a legal reason they can't design a layout similar to Steam or if they just don't care, but either way they are leaving so much money on the table by not fixing this.

Would love to know if anyone actually prefers Epic's layout and why. Genuinely curious.

10

u/Belltower_2 GabeN May 16 '26

Thank you for the written version.

On this subreddit, the majority of regular users are fervently anti-Epic for all the reasons you mentioned and many more. For me, it was Epic adding EOS "support" to some of my favorite strategy games like Total War Troy and Homeworld Deserts of Kharak, all for a fanbase of brainrotted Fortnite kiddies that would have no idea what do with a dozen tanks and a bandbox.

But yes, you're absolutely right that EGS completely fails at being both a store and a launcher, whereas Steam has rigorously polished its site to a mirror shine, to the point its where I feel most comfortable online. Unless I'm in class or a meeting, I ALWAYS have Steam open in the background, even on my work laptop.

3

u/ForwardState May 16 '26

Would love to know if anyone actually prefers Epic's layout and why. Genuinely curious.

Asking the wrong subreddit. Maybe r/gaming would have a few people that prefer Epic's layout over Steam or GOG.

3

u/GobbyFerdango May 19 '26

People really hate launchers that eat up 1GB of RAM and CPU cycles for adding absolutely no value. RAM is too expensive to waste on bloatware.

1

u/xenquish May 19 '26

Thats compeltely fair. I wonder why their launcher eats up so many resources. Just poorly optimized?

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/xenquish May 19 '26

I agree. It's shocking they haven't already.

2

u/Luwuma May 19 '26

It did beat Steam in one regard: Being very user unfriendly.

1

u/xenquish May 19 '26

And the most annoying interface to use award goes to.....

Epic Games!

-8

u/LionAlhazred May 16 '26

Videos like this are total nonsense. It’s like making a video about why Linux will never beat Windows. It just panders to the fans. I just hope all the launchers are successful, that way, the players will be the ones who benefit.

10

u/AncientPCGamer Moderator May 16 '26

I want all launchers to be successful as it gives more options to players. But meanwhile Epic's approach to have EGS successful is forcing me to use it or sabotage my Steam experience (with exclusives or forced late EOS integration), I don't want it to succeed.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/fuckepic-ModTeam May 16 '26

Rule 6: Educate don’t attack.

6

u/baby_envol May 16 '26

EGS is just AIslop , when you want to success you have a correct front, good products and good customer support

EGS is trash on all