Despite launching in December 2018 and spending five years in the spotlight, Epic Games Store lead Steve Allison has revealed that the Epic Games Store is still not turning profits.
Allison's comments were first shared by The Verge during the Epic v. Google legal battle. It's been a turbulent case that has seen both companies reveal fascinating insights into their inner workings, all over Epic's accusation that the Google Play Store is an "unlawful monopoly." It's hardly Epic's first time in the courtroom, but interesting to see the companies go head-to-head just a few short years after Google planned to buy Epic outright.
The Epic Games Store runs several incentive programs, likely contributing to its large userbase and lack of profits simultaneously. Users are treated to several free games every month, and many games sign exclusivity deals for months or even years. Running a store like this certainly can't be cheap, and many users are wondering how long they can continue to offer these incentives.
For developers, one of the EGS' main draws are its lower revenue split on sales. The 88/12 in favour of developers makes it an appealing place to sell, especially when compared to the 70/30 split offered by competitors like Steam. We can only hope that this favourable split continues - game developers have certainly suffered enough as of late.
In online spaces, it's fair to say that Epic isn't universally beloved. The news of Epic exclusivity often causes a fair amount of backlash. Some players go so far as to boycott games and developers that dare to take Epic's money, though we'd all do well to ignore this annoyingly vocal minority - games are difficult and eye-wateringly expensive to make.
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The store's lack of profits don't mean that the company as a whole is struggling, however, even if the excessive layoffs have you believing otherwise. Fortnite continues to see millions of players daily, and despite many Steam users' wishes, we'll probably not see the end of Epic anytime soon.