Epic Games Spent At Least $1 Billion Securing Exclusives for EGS | TechPowerUp
 
The ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple dispute over Fortnite on the App Store platform has sprung up some surprising facts. Apparently, Epic has spent a massive $1 billion since September 2019, getting game studios to launch their titles exclusively on the Epic Games Store (EGS). It This sledgehammer fashion of taking market-share away from Steam rides almost entirely on investor money, and the firm's next $1 billion funding round is already underway. Epic aims to have as many as 52 exclusives on its storefront in 2021. The meteoric rise of EGS dates back to late 2018, when it gave away fairly new AAA games for free, a move that cost it $11 million, but generated a large number of new sign-ups to the platform. From here, the store rode on offering game studios a greater revenue share of games sold than Steam does, and additional incentives for exclusives.
 
Looks to me as though EPIC wants to be the number 1 gaming platform. 

Well if it gets me some cool free games while the original devs still get paid for it, then I'm all for it. Big titles will usually still go to Steam after a year, and with a lot of AAA botched launches I have become more patient before purchasing a game anyway.

If they really aim for the #1 spot they have a long way to go feature wise. Steam (workshop)community has quite the headstart.

Maybe Tencent thinks differently :D Idk but so far I've gotten most free games they give away each week but haven't spent a single cent in the store yet lol also actually waited over a year for many games to come to steam because I just don't want to have them on a bad launcher.

As crazy as that sounds, I guess you can't blame them for wanting to stand out by paying people into making games exclusively for their game store.. truthfully I still don't trust EGS but that's just from those rumors of them reading your files is all, which are of course I'm assuming fakes.

There were some reports online that said Epic Game Store app collects more information off your computer than is standard by other services like Steam.  Has that been debunked now?  Not trying to start any flame war here, only asking out of curiosity because I frequently add the free Epic games to my library too.

Welp, they knew they were going for a tough target and are willing to burn what they think is needed to burn. Steam does need some competition and for Valve to get off its ass.
 

MonkeyBanana
There were some reports online that said Epic Game Store app collects more information off your computer than is standard by other services like Steam.  Has that been debunked now?  Not trying to start any flame war here, only asking out of curiosity because I frequently add the free Epic games to my library too.

I recall an article written by someone who actually does security and found that a lot of objections and "suspicious stuff" was fairly normal way programs like these work. It was long ago so I can't find the article for you. But so far, I have not heard of any real evidence shown that the Epic Launcher gets stuff it shouldn't.

yea i dont know about exclusives too much division on player base

Jnatho
This is crazy, with the setup of the store you would think they would spend more on optimization and features. With less exclusives

Agree with the 1st part here not the 2nd.  I'd prefer they spend the money to pay for real exclusives rather than timed, that way a new game is created that wouldn't have been otherwise.

 
So, Epic will pay a tonne of money for games I'll just wait a, polished and patched, year for to buy on steam, like I did Metro Exodus, Phoenix Point and others. 

Hope epic keeps buying more games to giveaway. I have so many games there despite never spending a cent there. It is nice.

JuanSolo17
If epic really wants to win against steam, they need to create a better storefront and add more customization for profiles. It does not stand out compared to similar storefronts like battle.net and origin except for the free games.

Yeah, why is it taking them forever to make the store better. It's been what 2 years and they still don't have a cart.

I have no idea what EG is thinking with a lot of their decisions, but I will gladly take the free games that pop up.

At least thanks to Epic games there is some competition. I understand why people dislike them having game exclusive for a certain period of time or forever but having only steam as a viable game launcher was no good for the consumers imho

If they want to keep spending I'll happily keep racking up free games, don't think it's enough to sway me away from steam though

They're trying to fast-track themselves into being like Steam, by throwing money at game studios rather than just focusing on improving their platform. I don't know if this'll get them that far