LogInAs Epic Games Store's General Manager shared, the service remains unprofitable after five years since being released.
Image credit: Telltale Games, The Wolf Among Us 2
Recently, Epic Games has encountered financial challenges, leading to significant steps. Towards the end of September, the company laid off around 16% of its staff, which is approximately 830 employees. Subsequently, in early October, Epic Games announced a price hike for non-game developers utilizing Unreal Engine. During this announcement, CEO Tim Sweeney openly acknowledged the financial difficulties that the studio has faced since July.
Nowadays, Epic Games appeared in court to address app store fees, during which Epic Games Store's General Manager Steve Allison candidly admitted that the service is currently operating without profitability. According to The Verge, Allison emphasized that the company's main objective is still to expand and enhance its e-commerce platform.
Image credit: Free Range Games, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
In 2018, Epic Games Store was introduced, coinciding with the immense popularity of Epic's battle royale game, Fortnite. This new platform emerged as a direct competitor to the well-established and unwavering Steam. While some gamers welcomed the competition Epic brought to Steam, others found it bothersome to have to install an additional app solely for game purchases. This sentiment was particularly compounded by the existence of "Epic Game Exclusive" titles, which the users could only get through Epic Games Store or which would become available on other platforms at a later date, causing inconvenience for players.
On a positive side, Epic Games Store offered users free games monthly and provided a more favorable revenue split for publishers and developers, with 88% of sales going to the creators and 12% to Epic. However, these factors have ultimately contributed to the financial challenges faced by the store, creating a drain on resources.
Some more news on Epic Games, recently, Fortnite achieved a new milestone by setting an all-time concurrent player record. According to tracker fortnite.gg, the game reached a peak of over 6.1 million concurrent players after introducing Fortnite Chapter 4, known as Fortnite OG.
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