don’t be so hard on yourself. over time, we all just stop paying so much attention to every single internet drama, it’s tiring and we have better stuff to do.
and the point is that epic games has been really liberal with the freebies for their users ever since they set up shop as a competitor to steam. they give away a game every couple of weeks and even more on certain special seasons, including triple a games. someone following them since the begging must have a library well over a hundred games now, completely for free.
despite that, they are finding very hard to find sympathy and market share among certain sectors of the gaming community, because their store is just not at the level of steam and some other questionable practices, even so far as to still be operating at a loss even now years later.
Key statement here - “operating at a loss”. Interest rates are climbing and cheap capital is a thing of the past now. They need to become profitable. If they don’t, the Epic Store and all those libraries of free games might just disappear.
Any one company is at risk of this as well, but Valve has been doing this for a long time, so they’ve built trust.
I remember a comment on reddit years ago where someone was saying they’d rather buy a game on stadia than geforce now, because hey, it’s not like google is going anywhere, right?
Thanks for taking the time to explain, that was very informative. I’m not hard on myself, btw. Im a 45 year old white guy who thinks he’s hot shit. Thanks for the encouragement, though.
This is great information, thanks for sharing. Could you elaborate on “questionable practices”?
I’m aware of locking certain games out of steam for some time (borderlands 3 for example). Is there more I didn’t know about?
There’s lists online of all the titles if you are curious. You might be lucky and see some of them again, it happened a few times that they brought back previously given games, too :)
On the Epic Games Store they always have one or two games that users can claim for free (and keep forever). They change the games they offer for free every few weeks or so (or on some holidays even daily). Sometimes these are really awesome ones and sometimes they suck :)
Currently you can get The Elder Scrolls Online for free.
They are doing this for some years now and now I have a huge selection of games that I haven’t payed a single dollar for.
I am not a smart man and I rarely adopt new things, so I want you to know that I am not trying to be ironic or shitty when I say that I aoreciate your help.
They periodically give away games in the store there.
Right now it looks like Elder Scrolls Online.
But they occasionally give away halfway-decent games like in the past I’ve seen The Witcher 3, Civ 6, Death Stranding, StarWars Battlefront II, etc.
I don’t think personal data has much to do with it, if anything at all. This is just their marketing budget meant to get you on the store, so once you grab a couple of free games, you might start buying games from them, too.
It’a a no-brainer when they’re legit buy-to-pay games and not games-as-service. My only problem is that they keep giving away games that I already paid for on Steam, like Witcher 3, Civ 6, Mordhau. I missed out on death stranding, apparently.
I’m old and out-of-the-loop. What are they giving away? I dont see it on their website. But again, I’m old. And kind of stupid.
don’t be so hard on yourself. over time, we all just stop paying so much attention to every single internet drama, it’s tiring and we have better stuff to do.
and the point is that epic games has been really liberal with the freebies for their users ever since they set up shop as a competitor to steam. they give away a game every couple of weeks and even more on certain special seasons, including triple a games. someone following them since the begging must have a library well over a hundred games now, completely for free. despite that, they are finding very hard to find sympathy and market share among certain sectors of the gaming community, because their store is just not at the level of steam and some other questionable practices, even so far as to still be operating at a loss even now years later.
Key statement here - “operating at a loss”. Interest rates are climbing and cheap capital is a thing of the past now. They need to become profitable. If they don’t, the Epic Store and all those libraries of free games might just disappear.
Any one company is at risk of this as well, but Valve has been doing this for a long time, so they’ve built trust.
I remember a comment on reddit years ago where someone was saying they’d rather buy a game on stadia than geforce now, because hey, it’s not like google is going anywhere, right?
I tried to warn them.
“every couple of weeks”
As in…a new game ever Thursday for years with a couple of repeats here and there?
They also don’t operate at a loss, it’s the marketing budget that they redirected.
Thanks for taking the time to explain, that was very informative. I’m not hard on myself, btw. Im a 45 year old white guy who thinks he’s hot shit. Thanks for the encouragement, though.
This is great information, thanks for sharing. Could you elaborate on “questionable practices”? I’m aware of locking certain games out of steam for some time (borderlands 3 for example). Is there more I didn’t know about?
There’s lists online of all the titles if you are curious. You might be lucky and see some of them again, it happened a few times that they brought back previously given games, too :)
I think that I forgot to say it at the time, but thanks for your response. You helped to clarify the issue for me.
On the Epic Games Store they always have one or two games that users can claim for free (and keep forever). They change the games they offer for free every few weeks or so (or on some holidays even daily). Sometimes these are really awesome ones and sometimes they suck :) Currently you can get The Elder Scrolls Online for free. They are doing this for some years now and now I have a huge selection of games that I haven’t payed a single dollar for.
Every week
Thanks, man. Shit, I had no idea. I need to get in on that
It’s been going literally since it launched. It’s given away some truly excellent games
I am not a smart man and I rarely adopt new things, so I want you to know that I am not trying to be ironic or shitty when I say that I aoreciate your help.
Currently: Murder by Numbers and Elder Scrolls Online
Tomorrow: Home World Remastered Collection and Severed Steel
They give away two games every week https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/free-games
You have to install their launcher afaik.
They periodically give away games in the store there.
Right now it looks like Elder Scrolls Online.
But they occasionally give away halfway-decent games like in the past I’ve seen The Witcher 3, Civ 6, Death Stranding, StarWars Battlefront II, etc.
You don’t need to install the launcher anymore. Heroic launcher can run most of your epic store games. (both on Windows and Linux!)
So enjoy the games without the major privacy concerns
New one every two weeks. Some good games too, never buying anything from them but I’ll keep the games.
Every week
Pretty invasive company. Im with you though. Take what you can get. Makese curious what they do with personal data, though.
I don’t think personal data has much to do with it, if anything at all. This is just their marketing budget meant to get you on the store, so once you grab a couple of free games, you might start buying games from them, too.
It’a a no-brainer when they’re legit buy-to-pay games and not games-as-service. My only problem is that they keep giving away games that I already paid for on Steam, like Witcher 3, Civ 6, Mordhau. I missed out on death stranding, apparently.