The Great Digital Freebie Heist: Why Epic Games Still Can’t Make Us Stay for Breakfast
AI Gaming News Author · kotaku ·
Epic Games Store is struggling to retain users who show up for freebies but flee back to Steam, according to a report detailing rushed projects and missed growth targets.
Right, so we’ve all done it, haven’t we? It’s Thursday afternoon, you see a notification pop up, and you scurry over to the Epic Games Store like a digital raccoon raiding a particularly high-end bin. You grab the latest free ‘Triple-A’ title, add it to a library that’s already groaning under the weight of three hundred other games you’ll probably never play, and then—poof—you’re back on Steam before the download bar even hits one percent.
I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. It turns out that this “hit and run” behavior isn't just a hunch we all have; it’s a verified phenomenon that’s keeping Epic’s top brass up at night. According to a rather revealing report from the folks over at Kotaku, penned by Ethan Gach, former Epic employees are confirming what we’ve suspected: the Epic Games Store (EGS) has a massive retention problem.
You know that feeling when you cast a spell and it works a bit *too* well? That’s what Epic just did with their free games program. They’ve successfully summoned a crowd of 78 million monthly active users, which sounds like a victory until you realize most of them are just there for the appetizers and have no intention of sticking around for the main course.
### The Numbers vs. The Vibe
Let’s look at the digital tea leaves for a moment. Epic reported they pulled in $400 million from non-Epic games in 2025. Now, to you and me, $400 million is “buy your own island and retire with a fleet of gold-plated chocobos” money. But in the realm of high-stakes corporate sorcery, it’s actually a bit of a damp squib. Epic’s global comms director, Liz Markman, admitted to the Los Angeles Times (via the Kotaku report) that these metrics were lower than their growth expectations at launch.
It’s a bit like building a massive, glittering cathedral to gaming, but everyone just uses the free water fountain in the lobby and then goes across the street to the old, dusty pub (Steam) because that’s where their mates are and the stools are more comfortable.
Steam has that “stickiness” that’s hard to replicate with just money. It’s the community, the workshops, the profiles, and that weirdly addictive feeling of seeing your total playtime reach embarrassing levels. Epic, meanwhile, feels a bit like a sterile laboratory. It’s functional, sure, but it lacks that lived-in, chaotic energy that makes a platform feel like a home.
### The Curse of the Rushed Side Quest
One thing that really caught my eye in Gach’s reporting was the mention of Epic’s tendency to rush things. We’re talking about a company that spent millions on contractors to push out a mobile game store app in just seven months back in 2024.
I reckon this is where the “optimistically chaotic” nature of Epic becomes a double-edged sword. They have the ambition of a wizard trying to rewrite the laws of physics, but sometimes they forget to check if the floor is actually solid before they start building the second story. They’ve been on more side quests than a completionist playing *The Witcher 3*—buying ArtStation, buying (and then selling) Bandcamp, and now diving headfirst into a $1.5 billion partnership with Disney.
Speaking of Disney, they’re reportedly working on a new extraction shooter. Now, I love a good extraction shooter as much as the next mage, but you have to wonder: will this be the next *Fortnite*, or will it be another casualty of Epic’s “move fast and break things” philosophy? When you’re juggling Disney IP, mobile integration, and a PC storefront that’s struggling to keep people’s attention, something’s bound to get dropped.
### The Human Cost of High Ambition
It’s easy to joke about corporate blunders, but there’s a human story behind these spreadsheets that’s frankly a bit gut-wrenching. As Ethan Gach points out, when these grand plans don't quite hit the mark, it’s the ordinary employees who face the music. Epic recently laid off over 1,000 staff members.
One particular detail from the original report really soured my morning coffee: one of the laid-off employees was terminally ill with brain cancer. It’s a stark reminder that behind every “strategic pivot” and “growth adjustment,” there are real people who are often treated as expendable mana points. It makes the “irreverent wizard” in me feel a bit more cynical than usual. We want innovation, and we want competition to Steam—because Valve shouldn’t have a total monopoly—but at what cost?
### Can Web3 or Mobile Save the Day?
Epic has been much more welcoming to the Web3 and blockchain gaming crowd than Steam, which basically slammed the door and bolted it shut. You’d think that would give EGS an edge in the next frontier of gaming technology, but even that hasn't quite been the silver bullet they hoped for.
The current plan is to bundle the PC storefront and mobile app into one unified platform. It’s a bold move. If they can make the transition between your phone and your rig seamless, they might finally find that “stickiness” they’re looking for. But again, the report suggests they’re rushing it. And as any experienced gamer knows, a rushed launch usually leads to a lot of patches and a very grumpy player base.
### Final Thoughts from the Tower
So, what’s the verdict? Is the Epic Games Store doomed to be a permanent second-place finisher? Not necessarily. They have the bankroll of a small nation and the ears of the biggest entertainment companies on the planet. But they need to stop treating the storefront like a secondary objective.
You can’t buy loyalty with freebies alone—loyalty is earned through user experience, community features, and not making your customers feel like they’re part of a giant corporate experiment. I’m cautiously optimistic that competition will eventually force both Steam and Epic to be better, but right now, it feels like Epic is trying to win a marathon by teleporting, only to realize they keep landing in the wrong zip code.
Until they figure out how to make us stay for more than just the free copy of *Grand Theft Auto 7* (or whatever we’re up to in 2026), we’ll probably keep our hearts in Valve’s hands and our wallets... well, wherever the sales are best, I reckon.
*Original reporting by Ethan Gach at Kotaku.*
Tags: Epic Games Store, Steam, Industry News, PC Gaming, Gaming Culture
Original article: kotaku