The situation surrounding Epic Games, led by Tim Sweeney, can’t exactly be called positive. They should focus on other things instead.

In February, Epic Games announced plans to redesign the Epic Launcher. In a June update, they revealed that launch times would be five times faster on average. This technical overhaul will reportedly include changes to the store’s interface, such as personalized game recommendations, quick-access categories, and patch notes available directly within the store. These features would have been welcome when the Epic Launcher was released in late 2018, but is it too late to turn things around? PCGamer asked Emmanuel Rosier, director of market research at the industry analysis firm Newzoo. Rosier views Epic’s prospects as a game developer more positively than its prospects as a store.

One change in Fortnite was placing a greater emphasis on incorporating cosmetic items from other companies’ games. While Epic’s own games and exclusive titles, such as Borderlands 3, had already appeared in Fortnite, the current season features Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Crash Bandicoot, Mega Man, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, and Joker from Persona 5.

“I don’t see how they can turn that around because Steam has become inevitable. The Epic Games Store gets players by offering free games, but people just log in, get the free games, and don’t even play them. It’s almost like collecting games rather than playing them. I think the challenge Epic is facing is that they’ve tried to win everywhere in the past few years. They tried to compete with Steam, Apple, and Google Play. They probably ran out of steam because they can’t fight all these battles at the same time. Looking at the Epic Games Store, I don’t see how they can recover at this point.

They probably need to focus on what really matters: Fortnite. You can see that they’re putting a lot of thought into Fortnite right now. They’re doing everything they can, and it’s paying off. Fortnite is in a much better state today than it was six months or a year ago. An important trend I see with Fortnite is that they are not afraid of other games. It’s interesting because Fortnite is a gaming platform that doesn’t compete with other games anymore. If you’re launching a game, it makes sense to do some marketing in Fortnite. I was thinking that I’m almost surprised Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t holding an event in Fortnite to show the trailer. Why not at this point?” says Rosier.

He views Fortnite’s latest additions positively, such as the collectible “sprites,” which offer players a new activity. In his view, it’s not so much about winning as it is about expanding the collection. However, he is less optimistic about Epic’s future as a competitor to Steam.

Source: PCGamer