In order to gain a foothold in the digital PC market, Epic Games employed a number of strategies following the official launch of its Epic Games Store, with the two most aggressive being the weekly offerings of free games as well as by making a bunch of PC games EGS exclusives – at least for a limited time. While the number of exclusive games has dropped in recent years, Epic has confirmed it is not done with the practice – it is simply focusing on offering bigger exclusives.
In an interview conducted by PCGamer, Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney discussed the platform’s changing approach to exclusive titles, saying:
“We're really honing our strategy based on what we observed worked really well in previous launches, and what didn't work really well. A handful of major exclusives really moved the needle … and the smaller games, especially games that had a smaller audience that was typically on Steam, we found that a lot of those players weren't willing to move over.”
One of Epic’s biggest exclusivity success stories is Borderlands 3, with Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison claiming that the game “has just crushed, like, well beyond the expectations of the developers and the publishers” on Epic’s platform.
One game which has been confirmed to be a timed EGS exclusive is Crime Boss: Rockay City – with the game not coming to Steam until 15 months following its launch on the Epic games Store and 12 months following its console release. It will be interesting to see how the game ends up performing on Epic’s platform and whether it will “move the needle.”
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KitGuru says: What do you think of Tim Sweeney’s statement? Do you prefer this shift in strategy? Let us know down below.