The Epic Games Store has published their 2023 year in review, which includes data showing that over $2,000 worth of games were given away.
The Epic titles Store, which aims to compete with other PC retailers like Steam, gave away 86 titles in all, which added out to a $2,055 suggested retail price, according to a blog post on the store. Over 580 million games were downloaded as a result of the free promotion.
In terms of real player counts, the Epic Games Store saw a 10% rise from the previous year in December 2023, reaching 75 million monthly active users.
Still, this is nothing compared to Steam. According to the most recent data, Valve’s platform reached 132 million monthly active users by the end of 2021. Given that the platform’s concurrent users increased from 27.4 million at the same time to 33 million by January 2023, it is likely that this number has increased significantly since then.
In 2023, player spending increased to $950 million on the Epic Games Store, a 16% increase. Grand Theft Auto 5, Fortnite, Dead Island 2, Genshin Impact, and Rocket League were the top games in terms of player spending and engagement.
Even with these impressive figures, however, the storefront remains unprofitable; in November 2023, CEO of Epic Games Store Steve Allison said that, after over five years, the business was still losing money on it.
With ploys like weekly freebies, big exclusive games, and an 88/12 income share (as opposed to Stean’s 70/30) for developers, Epic Games’ present goal is merely to grow the store.
