The analyst echoes previous reports that said players were simply going to Epic for the free games after which turning round and going again to Steam once they needed to purchase a sport they really needed to spend cash on. The premise of the argument is that Steam is “inevitable,” that means it’s too huge for brand new avid gamers to keep away from and too entrenched for long-time and informal avid gamers to show their backs on.
I do not actually see how they’ll flip that round, as a result of Steam has turn out to be so inevitable. The Epic Video games Retailer, they get gamers by giving free video games, however individuals simply go, they log in, they get the free video games, they do not even play them. You recognize, it is nearly like gathering video games fairly than truly taking part in them.
Epic Video games has since responded to the analyst’s feedback, arguing that the “information tells a distinct story,” citing $400 million in third-party gross sales and a couple of.78 billion collective hours spent gaming on the Epic Video games Retailer in 2025. He additionally says that the corporate expects the EGS redesign to drive that momentum additional.
Martin Keely, Vice President and GM, Epic Video games RetailerThe information tells a really totally different story. In 2025, gamers spent a file 2.78 billion hours taking part in third-party video games on the Epic Video games Retailer and participant spending on third-party PC video games grew 57% to an all-time file $400 million. With the improved Launcher that is coming this 12 months, that momentum is just going to speed up.
Rosier additionally argues that Epic Video games is spreading itself too skinny, specializing in each PC gaming and cellular on each iOS and Android. For a corporation like Epic, which additionally owns and develops the Unreal Engine and Fortnite, the elevated scope could end in muddied waters and an absence of focus, particularly in terms of the Epic Video games Retailer, which is successfully difficult Steam, one of the crucial ubiquitous entities in gaming on its residence turf. It is also argued that Steam’s non-public possession has given it extra flexibility to take dangers, in comparison with Epic, which must report back to traders, as a publicly traded firm.
The problem I believe Epic is dealing with is that they attempt to win all over the place up to now few years. They attempt to win in opposition to Steam, they attempt to win in opposition to Apple, in opposition to Google Play, and doubtless they run out of steam on the place they can not battle all these battles on the similar time.
On the similar time, the analyst is much less pessimistic in regards to the outlook for Epic Video games as a developer, stating that Epic “most likely must concentrate on what actually issues…which I believe is Fortnite. You possibly can see they put quite a lot of thought in Fortnite proper now. They’re doing every little thing they’ll, and I believe it is working higher whenever you take a look at the state of Fortnite as we speak in comparison with six months or one 12 months in the past.” On the similar time, nevertheless, it appears as if Fortnite is struggling one thing of a downturn, with Epic recently laying off 1,000 workers on account of what it known as a “downturn in Fortnite engagement that began in 2025.”