Epic gave away $2.2 billion in games. Third-party sales barely moved.
Epic's store grew from 108 million to 295 million users. Over the same five years, third-party revenue grew about 1.6%, from roughly $251M to $255M. Free brings visitors, not buyers.
Transcript
In 2024, Epic gave away 89 free PC games, worth about $2.2 billion at retail.
Epic launched its store in December 2018 to take on Steam. It charged developers a 12% cut, against Steam's 30%, and gave away premium games every week.
It worked on users. From 2019 to 2024, Epic's registered PC users grew from 108 million to 295 million.
But third-party revenue, money spent on games Epic doesn't own, grew about 1.6% in those five years, from roughly $251 million to $255 million.
In November 2023, Epic's store chief admitted the store still wasn't profitable. Free games bought visits, not buying habits. If you subsidize to win users, measure what they pay for, not how many arrive.
The records behind this video
Every figure in the video comes from this Decision Record, each with its sources.
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