Why the Epic Games Store Gives Away Free Games Explained

gamerant.com:

For the past few weeks, theEpic Games Store has been giving out some top-tier games for free. These include Borderlands 3, BioShock: The Collection, Prey, and more. While no player would say no to a free game, it does make one wonder why the Epic Games Store so generously gives away these titles.

This question is all the more prominent now, following the barrage of popular games that were free for a limited time under the Epic Games Store. The answer is a multi-faceted one that has to do with Epic Games' place in the game industry.

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Every week, the Epic Games Store puts out a free game that anyone can download with an Epic Games Store account. This can be anything from an indie title like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter to AAA games like the Tomb Raider Trilogy. These titles will only be available for a few days before the store moves on to the next free game in its queue, but should a player acquire the game in the specified time frame, it’s theirs the keep with no payments or additional microtransactions attached.

Constantly giving away games is a pricey undertaking. In a document from last year, it was revealed that Epic Games spent millions on free games for the store. Subnautica alone cost the company $1.4 million, while the Batman: Arkham series topped that at $1.5 million. The document also specifies the number of new Epic Games Store users that each game brought in, which explains the company’s rationale behind the weekly free games.

To put it simply, it’s a great marketing strategy. There are plenty of online video game shops, with Steam being the most popular by far. In order to compete with them, the Epic Games Store is giving away games