Industry analyst Emmanuel Rosier of Newzoo argued that the Epic Games Store cannot close the gap against Steam, pointing to low engagement and freebie-only users. Epic Games defended the storefront, citing record player spending and 2.78 billion hours logged in 2025.
The long-running battle to unseat Steam on PC has hit a fresh crossroads as industry analysts and storefront leadership clash over raw metrics. Emmanuel Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo, argued in an interview with PC Gamer that the Epic Games Store may be past the point of recovery.
According to the analysis, Steam’s deep entrenchment makes it nearly impossible for competitors to capture meaningful organic momentum. Rosier noted that while Epic’s strategy of handing out weekly free games draws millions of accounts through the virtual doors, those users frequently treat the storefront as a digital repository rather than a daily gaming home.
“I don’t really see how they can turn that around, because Steam has become so inevitable. The Epic Games Store, they get players by giving free games, but people just go, they log in, they get the free games, they don’t even play them. You know, it’s almost like collecting games rather than actually playing them.”
Emmanuel Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo, via PC Gamer
Epic Games Responds With Record 2025 Third-Party Metrics
Epic pushed back against the pessimistic outlook, pointing to strong financial growth on the platform. Martin Keely, vice president and general manager of the Epic Games Store, released a statement defending the company’s trajectory and highlighting active engagement numbers from the previous year.
“The data tells a very different story. In 2025, players spent a record 2.78 billion hours playing third-party games on the Epic Games Store and player spending on third-party PC games grew 57% to an all-time record $400 million. With the improved Launcher that’s coming this year, that momentum is only going to accelerate.”
Martin Keely, Vice President and General Manager of the Epic Games Store, via PC Gamer
That planned technical overhaul includes a launcher designed to boot up five times faster on average, alongside storefront additions like personalized game recommendations, quick-access categories, and patch notes. Those long-overdue quality-of-life adjustments follow past admissions from leadership that earlier iterations of the platform lagged behind user expectations.
Balancing Strategy Conflicts and Multiple Fronts
Beyond storefront competition, Rosier suggested that Epic’s ambitions across multiple sectors have strained its operational focus. By attempting to challenge established giants across PC, mobile iOS, and Android marketplaces while simultaneously developing Unreal Engine and managing Fortnite, the company may be spreading its resources too thin.
“The challenge I think Epic is facing is that they try to win everywhere in the past few years. They try to win against Steam, they try to win against Apple, against Google Play, and probably they run out of steam on where they cannot fight all these battles at the same time.”
Emmanuel Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo, via PC Gamer
Newzoo itself sought to distance itself from the interview remarks, issuing a disclaimer clarifying that the statements published in the PC Gamer interview were not supported by formal company data or analysis and should not be treated as an official Newzoo market assessment.
Fortnite’s Crossover Push and Storefront Realities
While outlooks on the storefront remain sharply divided, analysts view Epic’s core game development efforts more favorably. Rosier highlighted Fortnite’s current state as a primary bright spot, pointing to a broader strategy of incorporating recognizable platformer and gaming mascots such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Mega Man into its recent seasonal rosters.
At the same time, the broader ecosystem faces internal headwinds. Epic enacted layoffs impacting 1,000 workers following what the company described as a downturn in player engagement that began in 2025.
Whether upcoming technical launcher updates and ecosystem changes can convert passive freebie collectors into committed daily buyers remains the defining question for the Epic Games Store as it navigates its next operational phase.
Читайте также
