For several years now, the main source for digital game purchases on the PC platform came in the form of Valve’s Steam marketplace. It was a digital service that remained without being challenged too much from competitor services. That was until Epic Games brought out its own PC digital marketplace known as Epic Games Store. This company not only had the ability to make their own marketing service, but they had money to back their move to really make a big impact on the PC platform.
Epic Games’ success with the likes of Fortnite has brought in a ton of revenue and with Epic Games Store, they needed an edge to sway some consumers away from Valve’s Steam marketplace. One of the ways they did this has been quite controversial with the PC gaming community. It was found that Epic Games was going out of their way to write up contracts to bring over games onto the Epic Games Store for a duration of time as an exclusive. Normally, these contract deals would guarantee the game to be an Epic Games Store exclusive for at least one year. Afterward, the title would be free to be posted on other competitor digital marketplaces like Steam.
This was actually a pretty good deal for development and publishing studios. Without knowing the fine details of these contracts, it likely offered some upfront payment. Adding onto this, there is a better revenue cut that developers and publishers receive with each unit sold on the Epic Games Store than Valve’s Steam marketplace. However, there are one other means to get consumers on the Epic Games Store which has been popular with gamers.
Each week, Epic Games Store offers free video game titles to claim and keep forever. They range from indie hits to big AAA video game titles such as Grand Theft Auto V. This has brought in a ton of players each week and we now know what the next week’s video game titles will be. Starting on Thursday, August 27, at 11 AM EST, players who log into Epic Games Store will be able to claim a free copy of Hitman along with Shadowrun Collection. Don’t sit on these games too long as, after a week, they return back to their normal price on the digital storefront.
