Publishers can’t resist its gravitational pull. Direct2Drive, Green Man Gaming, and other smaller stores sell Steam keys. Steam is so flushed with weird, tiny games that some wish Valve would take a more active role in curating the catalog. It’s a similar story for indie games, too. But the Epic Games Store wants it all, just like Steam, and that desire makes major holes in the library much more glaring.Įpic may have nabbed hit PC releases such as Death Stranding, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Horizon Zero Dawn, but it lacks titles from even just a few years ago, such as Elden Ring, Monster Hunter World, and Tekken 7.

Some stores solely exist to service specific publishers, such as Activision Blizzard's, EA's Origin, and Ubisoft Connect.

Other services stay focused on specific niches, such as itch.io's or GOG's retro games. The reality is that Epic still faces an uphill battle to get games for its library, while Steam remains the PC gaming default. However, if you want to be the first to play the remastered horror game Alan Wake, the Saints Row reboot, or the long-awaited Dead Island 2, the Epic Games Store is the only option. After initially launching first on the Epic Games Store, Metro Exodus and Sifu soon found their way to Steam. Those deals tend to only last a short time. Speaking of acquisitions, Epic has also controversially used its considerable capital to lock up exclusive deals for certain PC games. Epic Games also acquired Rocket League's developers, turning that sports game into a free-to-play title. Although Epic developed the first three entries in the Gears of War franchise, you need to get the Xbox app or head over to the Microsoft Store on Windows 10/11 to download those Microsoft-published games. Of course, you can download Fortnite from the Epic Games Store, but you’ll also find other Epic games there, including the action-RPG Battle Breakers the acclaimed, side-scroller Shadow Complex and the classic, multiplayer shooter Unreal Tournament. Like Valve, Epic Games both produces its own games and sells titles published by other companies. The Epic Games Store could eventually be the foundation of some exciting and necessary competition in this space, but right now it’s too basic to be our top PC game store. The company’s name itself, Epic, raises expectations. The Epic Games Store represents a real attempt to break Steam’s dominance, something only possible after the unprecedented success of Fortnite gave the creators at Epic Games enough money and clout to try a stunt this ambitious. Many PC game stores have found ways to exist under Steam’s shadow, but none can truly take on our Editors’ Choice PC gaming marketplace. Consumers suffer when one company controls an entire industry. Nobody likes a monopoly, aside from its owners.

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