It’s been more than a month since Christmas, but Epic Games has carried the giving mood into the new year.
More than 749 million users claimed the Epic Store’s 103 weekly free games throughout 2020, worth approximately $2,407, the developer announced yesterday. And more will be coming in 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of users to turn to video games as a go-to at-home activity and the Epic Store saw huge gains as a result. There are now more than 160 million accounts registered with the store, with first-party games like Fortnite and Rocket League, as well as timed exclusives like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Borderlands 3, attracting gamers.
The free game program helped buoy the engagement of the store’s users as well, reaching 31.3 million daily active players and a 192-percent increase from the previous year. It’s still a far cry from Steam’s 62.6 million daily active users announced by Valve, but Epic is closing the gap.
Epic also briefly touched on the features it’s working on for the store, like wishlist improvements and a social overhaul including player profiles and achievements.
A more robust set of features for the store will continue to attract gamers, but Epic also affirmed its conviction for game developers to have a “smooth, seamless experience… to bring their titles to the Epic Games Store.”
