Epic Games has been in financial troubles lately. In late September, the company laid 16% of its staff; or roughly 830 employees. In early October, they announced price increase for non-game developers using the Unreal Engine. There, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney confessed the studio had been having financial issues tracing back to July. Today, Epic Games was in court to discuss app store fees, where the Epic Games Store CEO Steve Allison admitted the Epic Games Store is unprofitable.
The Epic Games Store launched in 2018, around the same time Epic made itself known with the still-popular battle royale Fortnite. It was a direct competitor to long-standing, unwavering Steam. While some gamers appreciated the challenge Epic posed to Steam, others were more annoyed at the idea of having to install another application to purchase a game, especially considering some titles were “Epic Game Exclusive.” These titles would either only be able to be purchased through the Epic Games Store, or would come to other sites at a later date. Either way, it was not ideal. The Epic Games Store also provides users with free games on a monthly basis, and has a better revenue split for publishers and developers. Unfortunately, these factors have ultimately added to the money sink that is the store.
Bizarrely, these factors were supposed to happen. In a post from 2021, Sweeney replied to IGN stating Epic would lose at least $330 million with their store with a graphic explaining how the Epic Games Store would prove to be a valuable investment. Two years after the post and five years since the application’s launch, it sadly did not become the profit it was hoped to be.
Epic and Google are currently in court for the same reason why Epic and Apple went to court in 2021–in-app store fees. Epic lost the case against Apple but is trying again for Android devices. A win for Epic could possibly provide a boost to the Epic Games Store and company. More information about the status of the case will come as it proceeds through court.