Key Takeaways
- Epic’s free game quality has declined from popular titles to less niche offerings, leading to gamer fatigue.
- Game engagement decreases with game saturation and a growing backlog, making weekly free games feel less valuable.
- While beneficial for building a user base, Epic’s tactics may not be sustainable in the long-term.
The Epic Game Store has been offering free games since it first launched in 2018. Though much of my own game collection comes from the storefront, the quality has been on a steady downward decline.
The Games Aren’t What They Used to Be
When the Epic Games Store launched its free games initiative, it captivated gamers by giving away blockbuster titles such as Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Civilization VI, and Mirror’s Edge. These are high-quality, well-known games that Epic hopes would attract a broad audience. Even for beginner PC gamers, this was a big deal.
However, the quality of the free games has seen a noticeable decline. Recent offerings have included less popular or niche titles, such as Hell is Others, Adios, and Recipe for Disaster“ These games aren’t necessarily terrible, but they don’t have the same broad appeal as earlier offerings.
A steady drip of niche, free games continued through 2023 and into 2024. This year, we’ve seen some dismal free offerings, including in-game items to try to get more people interested in games they already don’t care about.
Epic’s Free Games Are Repetitive and Lack Variety
As someone open to new gaming experiences, I’m always willing to try out something new, assuming it falls into one of the genres I enjoy. Many recent free games fall into this category, like indie puzzlers or management simulators, which do not necessarily appeal to all gamers. While some of them appeal to me, there can be too much of a good thing.
The problem with offering so many games as freebies that share the same theme is that the audience gets fatigued. After my fifth management game, I realized I might not be getting a bit bored of the free lunch. I was pretty much only extending the number of games in my catalog that I had yet to finish.
The biggest issue I’ve had with Epic’s free games offering is how limited it is compared to competitors. Other outlets like Steam and GOG have free games and massively discounted gems spanning dozens of genres. There’s something to be said when a game’s price tag is free, and it still can’t compete with a classic like Celeste at $1.99, courtesy of Steam’s amazing sales.
Game Saturation, or Having Too Much To Play
When I was young, I had fewer games available so I could dedicate more time to them. Fast-forward to today, and the Epic Games Store’s free games are making a bad problem worse. I already have a backlog of titles that I’ve bought and haven’t picked up yet. The additional pressure of collecting free games I might never play only serves to pad my library.
This backlog can significantly impact user engagement. With so many unplayed games, users become less inclined to download new ones, even free ones. The novelty wears off, and the incentive to log into the store regularly diminishes. I only remember to log in to EGS when the notification reminds me to.
The story’s the same in gaming communities around the internet. People collect the free games that then sit there, unplayed, while everyone keeps playing their favorites. It makes one wonder, “Who exactly are these free games for, anyway?”
More Marketing, Less Promise
You can share your email with the studio when you collect a free game from the Epic Games Store. This is entirely optional, but it explains why studios offer their games for free on the storefront. They get some of your information and a line of communication for marketing purposes. It’s not a bad tactic at all. If only Epic spent the same time delivering on promises for their storefront.
While present, the wishlist functionality on EGS lacks the sophistication of competitors. For example, Steam’s wishlist system is more user-friendly and offers better notification settings and organizational tools. The loading times for storefront pages are abysmal, and the client has faced a lot of criticism about its performance in the past.
That said, these games are not profitable for Epic. They pay the publishers to release their games, meaning that the only thing they get from this is an increased user base. This isn’t a sustainable business practice and doesn’t bode well for the platform’s future. Imagine losing access to good games when the client shuts down. It’s a nightmare.
The EGS has a long way to go before becoming as usable as storefronts like Steam. But the approach of offering weekly free games is paying off in some ways.
There Are Some Benefits to This Approach
Despite the criticisms, the strategy of offering free games has helped EGS build a significant user base. The increased number of users is good for Epic since it means that they can get more eyes on their products. What’s more, offering free games seems to be working out by keeping their existing audience engaged.
There is also a psychological aspect to this strategy. EGS encourages users to explore the store by offering free games, potentially leading to future purchases. This tactic leverages principles like the sunk cost fallacy and brand loyalty, where users feel more inclined to buy games from a platform where they hold a significant library. In this way, Epic hopes to supplant Steam as the go-to store for PC gamers.
Epic still seems to be getting some game developers to offer their wares up for free on the platform, driving connection and user engagement. The gains here are a little skewed, with Epic getting the exposure and the studios getting their games into people’s libraries (who probably won’t play them) and user emails they can market to directly.
The downside is that no one on Epic’s side seems to check the quality of these games. While none of them are outright shovelware, a few titles make a gamer raise their eyebrows.
Should You Keep Collecting Epic’s Free Games?
How many games do you have in your backlog? I’ve probably got around thirty games (not counting the free ones from Epic) to get through that I haven’t started on yet. That’s not even counting games that aren’t out yet, which I’ll also probably not get to for months or years. If you’re more of a collector than a completionist, there’s no problem with having these games available.
But if you’re like me and want to get through the good games, it might be time to put the Epic storefront down for a while. Who knows, it might even encourage them to increase the quality of free games.
