Since its launch, Steam has grown to become one of the biggest and most used online video game storefronts. It is so huge that even people with no prior knowledge of PC gaming know that the go-to place to get games is Steam.
Steam offers a wider range of personalization, all the while Epic Games Store offers better offers and weekly free games as well. Both Steam and Epic Games Store are both competing for market share and everyone only asks one question which one is better? There is no definite answer to this question and it all depends on the user and their requirements and their preferences. Thus it is entirely dependent upon the user to see fit which one they find better.
Now, Steam is facing tough competition from its rival storefront Epic Games Store. Both stores offer a large games library and have many factors that differentiate them, but it comes down to which is better.
Steam
Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games and expanded to distributing and offering third-party game publishers’ titles in late 2005.
Steam offers various features, like digital rights management (DRM), game server matchmaking and anti-cheat measures, and social networking and game streaming services.
It provides the user with automatic game updating, saved game cloud synchronization, and community features such as friend messaging, in-game chat, and a community market.
Epic Games Stores
The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play games. The storefront provides a basic catalog, friends list management, matchmaking, and other features.
Epic Games has plans to further expand the feature set of the storefront but it does not plan to add as many features as other digital distribution platforms, such as discussion boards or user reviews, instead using existing social media platforms to support these.
Game Library
Even though both Steam and Epic Games Store are huge corporations in terms of game library sizes, these platforms cannot be compared as Steam has over 50,000 titles listed while Epic Games Store has just over 1000 game titles. Major Triple A titles are available on both platforms; however some titles are exclusive such as Cs: Go for Steam and Fortnite for Epic Games Store.
Epic Games Store Exclusives
Just like other storefronts, Epic Games Store has a variety of small and big exclusives games like Solar Ash, Alan Wake 2, Rocket League, Fortnite, Dauntless, Godfall, World War Z, Dangerous Drive, and Ooblets see their PC versions still sticking to just Epic’s storefront.
Steams Exclusive
Steam has games that are exclusive to its platform. RimWorld, Valheim, Factorio, Mount and Blade 2, Dota 2, Ori and the will of the wisps, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Sea of Thrives, and Stray are some of these games. Steam is also exclusive as big as Cs: Go.
Different Features in Steam and Epic Games Store
Steam has an in-client feature called the Discovery Queue. Each user has a unique queue made up of 12 new releases, popular and discounted titles, and games recommended by Steam. This list is updated every day. Steam uses new, popular, top-selling, and similar products you own on Steam to generate your Discovery Queue.
It won’t show games you already have in your library, wishlist, or ones you’ve already seen in your previous day’s Discovery Queue. Furthermore, your daily Discovery Queue might have games that are currently popular, selling well, and similar to games you’ve already bought. You might get games you dislike, making the “Not Interested” button extremely useful.
However, even if Epic Games Store has no feature like Discovery Queue Epic offers something else. Every gamer loves a paid game they can get for free, even for a limited time. Epic Games Store has a “Get A Free Game Every Week” feature that allows users to add a paid game to their library for free for a week. After that one week, the title that was featured will go back to its original price.
Popular titles such as GTA V, Hitman, Dead by Daylight, and many others became even more popular among PC gamers because Epic Games Store decided to give them to users for free.
Steam does offer free games, but those games are free to download and played only within a specific time frame. After that, you’ll have to pay for it to continue playing. Simply put, Steam only offers free trials.
Epic Games store also offers free access to Unreal Engine 5. If you want to start your game, app, or software development career, you can do so with Unreal Engine’s starter developer tools. Additionally, you can take advantage of tutorials and assets to improve your Unreal Engine projects in its Marketplace.
There may not be a big library of games from known publishers, but Epic gives you a chance to become one of their publishers with its developer-friendly tools.
In PC gaming, it’s common to see games of different versions bundled together. However, you may not want to purchase multiple versions of a base title if you already own a few versions yourself.
With Epic Games, game bundle prices are automatically adjusted if you currently own a version of the game included in the bundle. In other words, Epic Games Store won’t charge you for the versions you already have by refunding the difference on price-adjusted games.
Developers Treatment
The Epic Games store currently provides a much better cut. Developers get 88% of their games’ income, and Epic Games take 12%. This can be lowered if the developer uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. Steam takes 30%.
So developers get less money if they use Steam, compared to the Epic Games Store. However, Steam also provides a lot of developer services, such as Valve Anti Cheat (VAC) and Steamworks. Their massive popularity may also help devs get more visibility.
User Interface
Both are quite easy to navigate, but Steam’s user interface is a lot more congested than Epic Games Launcher. On Epic Games Launcher, navigating a game and launching it is as simple as finding its icon, clicking on it to launch it, or clicking on its ‘Launch’ option.
On Steam, you need to navigate through a list of games. This can be quite fast and easy if you have fewer games, but as you get more and more games, it can get a bit hectic to look at.
Social Features
This category is a slam dunk for Steam. While Epic Games offers a friend list and chat functionality, Steam offers this, and a plethora of additional features. With Steam, you get a profile tab, where you can write posts, share media, and get recommendations based on what your friends are up to.
In addition, you get game invites, community discussions, text and voice chat, and cross-platform support, so you can communicate with friends even if they are on a different platform.
Problem with Epic Games Store
Epic itself admits that the storefront launched in a half-baked state. The team behind it has said they stumbled out of the gate, making a number of unforced errors. But it’s not an active conspiracy like many have made it out to be. It’s an act of capitalism, a drama in which both Epic and its customers both will play a role.
The Epic Games Store client is free to download, and once amateur data miners got their hands on it they noticed oddities about how it functioned, including unusual network traffic and user file access.
The situation is well documented at Ars Technica, which narrows in on a Reddit thread titled “Epic Games Store, Spyware, Tracking, and You!” Some point out that the store client creates a file named “tracking.js.”
But, says Epic’s vice president of engineering Daniel Vogel, that data is simply used to track the revenue-sharing that pays game assets and content creators, a feature that’s been part of the Unreal Engine suite for years.
More concerning to some, however, is the fact that the Epic Games Store client makes a local copy of Steam files without first asking the user’s permission.
Sweeney himself stepped into the Reddit thread to say that’s not OK, even if that data is only shared with Epic when users opt-in. Epic has also been buying exclusives and it has been creating other problems for users it determined to be bad for the gaming industry
Problems With Steam
As time went on problems with steam also increased although its large library of games is mostly positive recently it was noted that steam had been overrun by cheap and low-quality games.
Not only that, it was noted that devs often make shell companies and often resale these games with the same assets and the same experience with a new name.
This type of scam is the reason why steam has recently been overrun by these low-quality cheap games and how devs are still able to make money from them however steam is now working to remove these games
Overall Store Experience
If you’re just looking to buy a game you already know you want, both stores will serve you just fine. Game listings are full of images and videos. Steam games come with digital rights management (DRM), while Epic leaves that choice up to individual publishers.
Both stores have similarly intuitive self-service refund policies. If you’ve played a game for under a certain time limit, usually under two hours, you can get your money back if you ask for it within two weeks.
However, a pleasant shopping experience may point you toward games you don’t even know you want. Steam’s robust community features create a powerful, organic recommendation engine.
You can read user reviews, and browse forums. Early Access Steam games technically aren’t finished, so you’ll want to read as much feedback as possible. The downside is that having so many things to look at makes for a cluttered interface.
The Steam user interface can look much more cluttered and adhere to the classic Valve theme, while Epic Games Launcher is more in line with the modern, clean and sleek look. Epic doesn’t provide a lot of information on the go, whereas the Steam store gives a lot of information about the game.
Other Alternative
Good Old Games (GOG)
GOG.com ( formerly known as Good Old Games) is a video game and movie digital distribution portal. GOG sp. z o.o., which is a fully owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland, is the company that operates it. GOG.com’s digital platform for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux offers DRM-free video games.
Origin
Origin, EA’s digital gaming business, has been in operation since 2011, but not for much longer. Origin as a name is being phased out and replaced by a new app with a new (uninteresting) name.
Origin is a free PC game download and plays platform. It enables you to download, manage, and play games from anywhere. Install Origin for Mac or PC to create your Game Library and begin playing.
G2A
G2A is a global marketplace dedicated to digital products. Our major demographic is gamers and geeks, but our inventory also contains utility software, subscriptions to streaming services, online shopping gift cards, and much more.
G2A provided a platform for vendors to do business and for gamers and geeks to pursue their hobbies without breaking the bank. G2A is offered internationally, and the catalog includes products with both global and localized versions.
Humble Bundle
Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital video game storefront that developed out of its original offering of Humble Bundles. Humble Bundle is still offering these limited-time bundles, but they have expanded to include a larger and more consistent shop.
The compilations of games are sold at a price decided by the purchaser, with a portion of the price going to charity and the remainder split amongst the game developers.
The Humble Store is an expansion of the sales system designed to manage Humble Bundles. It provides independent creators with the payment and customer support capabilities that they developed for the various Bundles as an alternative marketplace for their games.
Gamers Gate
GamersGate is a big digital distribution platform for PC and Mac games, providing gamers with simply accessible gaming experiences. #GamerGate was created as a hashtag by Firefly actor Adam Baldwin.
It was launched on August 27, 2014, in reaction to a dispute over Zo Quinn’s game Depression Quest. Gamers critiqued the game’s simplicity and departure from normal gaming formats, and others believed the game’s positive and substantial press coverage was unjustified.
Microsoft store
Microsoft Store is an online marketplace by Microsoft. It is a reputable store with millions of games, software applications, and entertainment applications. Microsoft Account users may use Microsoft Store to pay for, download, and install their favorite third-party software safely and securely.
Conclusion
Trying to answer this question might be a bit like trying to decide which is your favorite child. There definitely are things to love about both. Ultimately, it is down to you, to decide which of these different factors are most important to you. Hopefully, we’ve helped to provide you with some clarity. Of course, you could always just use both.
