The Gaming Industry is huge and makes the most money. Beating the Theatre, Cinema, and Streaming service industries combined, the Gaming industry comes out no top being bigger than all. Apart from the developers, the number of gamers is massive with all actively participating in one or the other game globally. But for all that, Gamers need amazing games to play, and with that comes the question of where to get these games from? With the rise of greater connectivity, Gamers have started to procure these games from online stores rather than in-person purchases or online shopping.
This creates a great opportunity for online game stores to make money and to do that they need to attract customers. The leading name in the online gaming store is Steam, the video game distribution service by valve. It was launched in 2003 and has expanded to include games from third-party publishers and made quite a name for itself. However, another name has popped up in the online games store sector and is growing at quite a rapid rate and Epic Games Store. The digital video game storefront was launched in 2018 and it provides a basic catalog, friend list management, matchmaking, and other features.
The Epic Games vs Apple Trial
The Epic Games vs Apple is a lawsuit brought by Epic Games against Apple in August 2020 related to Apple’s practices in the IOS App Store. The newly-stated Epic vs Apple Trial data revealed that in the mere 10 months after its launch, Epic Games paid over $11.6 to offer free PC games as a business strategy to attract more new customers. Epic Games has been known for its practice of giving away older games with low or no cost at all every week. These old games are cycled out afterward which ensures that no game is given for free forever, making this giveaway a “Grab it or Lose it” deal. On the contrary, Epic Games’ competitors- Steam, are engaged in no such practices. Not only does Steam refuse to give away games for free, but they also refuse to give discounts on them except a few games that are the most popular.
A Game historian, Simon Carless, recently procured a document from the Epic Games vs Apple trial stating that it was “accidentally published early” alongside other materials from the lawsuit. The document contained data categorized on the basis of factors such as buyout cost, the total number of downloads, and newly linked accounts. It revealed that the Batman Arkham trilogy was the most popular gaming series among users and cost the company $1.5 million but also added 513, 912 accounts making $2.44 for each user. The World of Goo also brought in many new users (as much as 155.215 people) which were sold for $0.32 but cost the store only $50,000.
Epic also has the upper hand by keeping certain games off of Steam, thereby maximizing their profits. However, Steam rules over PC users with its amazing features like Steam Link, Steam VR, or Steam Remote Play. Equivalents of these features are not present on Epic Games making it a major advantage for Steam. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney previously stated that although the store needs to grow as a business, they never expected to make any profit from it until 2027. Epic Games lost $273 million through 2020 and the count will likely increase unless they somehow manage to secure more
