Epic Games Disputes Analyst’s Skepticism About Epic Games Store Competing with Steam
Epic Games has pushed back against analyst skepticism regarding the Epic Games Store, citing record third-party engagement and spending to defend its position against Valve’s Steam.
For years, Epic Games has attempted to build a viable competitor to Steam on PC. While the storefront continues to receive updates such as shopping carts and library features, it has struggled to rival Valve’s overall market presence. In an interview with PC Gamer, Newzoo analyst Emmanuel Rosier expressed doubt about Epic’s long-term strategy for the storefront:
I don’t really understand how they’re going to turn the tide, because Steam has become pretty much unavoidable. The Epic Games Store attracts players with free games, but people just come in, claim them, and don’t even play. You know, it’s more like just collecting games.
Rosier suggested that Epic Games may be overextending its resources across multiple industry battles simultaneously:
They are trying to beat Steam, Apple, and Google Play. They are probably running out of energy, because it is impossible to fight all these battles at the same time.
Martin Keely, vice president and general manager of the Epic Games Store, disputed Rosier’s assessment and pointed to key performance milestones:
The data shows 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 by 57% to an all-time record of $400 million. With an improved launcher releasing this year, that momentum will only accelerate.
Rosier added that Epic Games appears more effective when concentrating on game development rather than app distribution:
They probably need to focus on what really matters. In my view, that’s Fortnite. You can see that they are paying huge attention to Fortnite right now. They’re doing everything in their power, and judging by what Fortnite looks like today compared to six months or a year ago… I think it is paying off.
The Epic Games Store roadmap for this year includes a redesigned user interface along with several technical improvements.
Source: iXBT.games
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