When you’re taking on a platform the size of Steam, you need a compelling offer. And that’s why it looks like the Epic Game Store’s free-game-a-week offer will be continuing into 2020.
In a post mostly congratulating itself on gradually growing numbers, the company shared the news that there would be 52 more free games this year. “To kick things off, we’re extending our weekly free game program throughout 2020,” the company wrote. “Every single week, come back to claim your game. Once claimed, it’s yours to keep forever.”
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The company then went deeper into the numbers. The site now has 108 million customers, and they have collected a cumulative 200 million-plus free games. Epic says these titles have averaged a score of 80% on OpenCritic, and come to some $1,455 in total value per customer, which is no bad thing.
But while the return of the free games for at least another 52 weeks is undoubtedly a good thing for consumers, it could simply reflect the fact that the company needs it to continue growing. Dig a little deeper into the figures, and things don’t look quite so rosey.
So yes there are now 108 million customers, spending a cumulative $680 million, but if you divide those two numbers you come up with $6.29 per user. In other words, there seems to be a lot of customers who have just signed up purely for the free games, and don’t seem interested in providing their credit card details.
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Tackling that discrepancy will be a big part of the Epic Games Store’s strategy in 2020, and part of that will be through platform exclusives. The company listed five of those coming soon, which include the likes of Magic The Gathering Arena, Predator Hunting Grounds, Auto Chess, Rogue Company and Godfall.
The company closed with thanks to players and developers for supporting the platform. “In 2020 we’ll continue to lead the way in open and developer-friendly store terms, with 88% revenue sharing, support for developer and publisher payment systems, and keyless purchasing integration with Humble (more PC stores coming soon),” the post reads.
“On top of that, we’re offering integration with Epic’s platform-independent and store-independent online services with more than 300,000,000 customer accounts and 1,700,000,000 friend connections.”
Lots of plans for the year ahead, then.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
