Epic's free game program is vital to rivaling Steam, Polygon reports
Coverage from Polygon describes the Epic Games Store’s free game program, which has run weekly since 2018 and has given away hundreds of titles, including Control, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Death Stranding. Epic Games Store vice president and general manager Steve Allison told Polygon the program is now curated toward “games we think are really fucking cool,” and that Epic both accepts submissions and sends teams to shows — including small events — to find under‑the‑radar and first‑time developers.
Allison noted Epic remains firmly in second place behind Steam, with 60% of Epic customers shared with Steam and Steam reporting more than 317 million total PC users (up from 295 million in 2024). He said users convert at about 16% over a reasonable period and that Epic hopes to raise conversion toward 25%, with some free‑game offers converting as highly as 30%.