Recently, the general manager of Epic Games Store spoke with GamesIndustry.biz. During the interview, Steve Allison talked about the impact of EGS on PC gaming and beyond.
Epic acknowledges Valve's dominant position in the service:
Steam is a huge part of the PC ecosystem. It is not going anywhere. We are not planning to overthrow Steam.
However, according to the manager, Epic Games Store has still had a certain impact over its eight years of operation:
PC gaming has grown thanks to competition and our existence. That growth may not be directly attributable to our competition, but people passionate about games [are beginning to spend more time playing on PC than on consoles].
Allison confirmed that they would like to narrow the gap with Valve and increase their market share: "Of course, we would be thrilled with a 50% or greater share of the PC market."
At the moment, according to him, Epic Games Store accounts for approximately 35–40% of monthly active users (MAU) on PC, but the store represents only about 5–8% of spending. The EGS manager thinks that "the battle is not lost" and that EGS could potentially capture a 30-40% share of the PC market.
The creators of Epic Games Store hear the criticism, and Allison acknowledged that the store is "very slow and built on an old platform" — in October of last year, the decision was made to "completely rebuild it."
The work on rebuilding EGS is expected to be completed by May-June, and after that the store's library will load "quite quickly."
The possibility of adding "regional storefronts [for the store]" is being considered, and they also plan to increase sales of third-party developers' games by using the commercial power of Fortnite.
Allison said that they will enter into around one hundred partnership agreements under which players who buy a participating game on EGS will be able to receive a free cosmetic item for Fortnite.