Epic Games is doing well. It garnered a $22 billion valuation in 2022 thanks to Fortnite’s incredible success, consistent sales across all games, and the renowned Unreal Engine that powers many of today’s AAA games. Despite what social media users periodically claim, Epic appears to have plenty of momentum. But Tim Sweeney’s brainchild can’t afford to rest on its laurels, especially with multiple big players expanding their mobile game offerings.
Why Epic Games needs to make big moves
Nothing stays the same, especially in tech
A rough 2023 led to over 800 layoffs before Epic returned to financially sound status in October 2024. Despite Fortnite’s record number of monthly active users to close 2024, nothing lasts forever, and rumblings of unhappy players surface periodically. While it’s a meaningful asset, the Unreal Engine’s royalties max out at around $300 million annually, a drop in the bucket for such a large company.
A $245 million FTC fine for deceptive business practices and the flouting of child privacy laws became official in December 2024. Other than the Fortnite money printer, the Epic Games Store is a money sink. The company has seen criticism of its partial sale to Chinese firm Tencent and increased adoption of the games-as-a-service model since 2012. Dedicated gamers don’t take kindly to Mr. Sweeney’s public interactions or business practices.
With gaming’s immense potential for growth, Epic has a chance to expand its foothold and ensure long-term security. In particular, mobile gaming’s approaching renaissance could net the right risk-taker immeasurable profit. With the right moves, Epic could position itself as the go-to mobile vendor worldwide, mimicking Steam’s fame as the leading PC gaming platform. In addition to a smartphone and tablet takeover, a few other important steps can keep Epic at the top of its game.
Fix the Epic Games Store
Six years is a long wait for feature updates
Rocket League Sideswipe is one of three games on Epic’s barely functional Android store.
No other stepping stone between the PC desktop and game loading screens invokes as much frustration as Epic’s spaghetti-codified monstrosity of a software portal. It’s a slog. A few windows and dialog boxes shouldn’t bring 16GB of RAM to its knees. That’s the game’s job. Annoyingly, the “Remember my login” toggle often fails, something prolific gamers notice. Flipping through the interface feels like completing a nightmare-difficulty captcha. Everything takes too many clicks. The silver lining? We all know the interface well because it hardly sees updates.
It’s not just the maze of bugs and slowdowns
Capable content delivery complemented by competent social features can crystallize a fanbase. Look at Gabe Newell and Valve’s Steam. That’s a gamer’s gaming platform. The EGS needs reimagined navigation, a well-designed library, and access to developers or at least support staff. How can gamers explore new worlds without effective search, preview, and community discussion tools?
Epic is a software company. Shoring up its software should come first to secure its role in gaming’s future. Giving the interface some much-needed TLC would reduce friction and promote goodwill with gamers.
Stop burning money on restricted exclusives
The company must outlast the mere fiscal year
Bribing studios to lock in highly anticipated titles as Epic exclusives isn’t just anti-consumer. It’s also anti-developer, anti-reviewer, and anti-industry. Release cycles comprise years of hype, a palpable buildup, and an explosion as entire communities experience the new Extreme Sewing Championship 3 together.
Artificially fragmenting that cycle devalues collective enjoyment. We gamers get impatient waiting 42 years for games like Cyberpunk 2077 to launch. Please don’t make us wait another year. We’ll get upset, forget about the game, or both.
We love Epic’s free games campaign, which allows us to enjoy many indie titles we wouldn’t have otherwise. However, poor infrastructure and many AAA titles’ year-long EGS prison sentences undermine the money spent on free stuff. Don’t blame studios for taking the contracts. Epic has a lot of money. Forced exclusives represent counterproductive spending. Epic admitted many EGS exclusives aren’t profitable.
Ditch the blockchain, metaverse, and other gimmicks
They can’t possibly do real good
Crypto-backed features have never provided real-world utility, and gaming is the last place we need more manipulative tricks. A low-poly game-within-a-game metaverse concept didn’t work for Zuckerberg and won’t work for Sweeney. Users will refuse to take Epic seriously if it reminds them of cringe-inducing, procedurally generated, cigar-smoking monkey JPG scams.
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Warner Bros. struggles with cause and effect, doubles down on live-service shovelware
Because why do what works?
The free-to-play model drives subscriptions effectively for quality games. A play-to-earn label might as well read, “Don’t play this game.” Microtransactions, celebrity cameos, and similar novelties often discourage serious engagement. Games-as-a-service content delivery rubs users the wrong way and makes it easy for publishers to abandon promises of sustained post-launch production. Epic needs to cut the nonsense if it wants the next step, the biggest one, to make the right splash.
Own mobile gaming like no one has before
Risk it all, storm the market, and build on a meaningful legal victory
The legal decision allowing Epic to unleash a standalone store to compete with Google paved the way for big moves, and Epic made some. Notably, its deal to pre-install the EGS on smartphones under the worldwide Telefonica umbrella will deliver a ready-to-play platform to millions. But the mobile sector is still up for grabs.
No major player rules the mobile gaming roost anywhere in the world. North American and European users agree that the Google Play Store stinks for gaming (although it’s trying to change). Emerging markets like Southeast Asia offer potential but no guarantee a company could swiftly make profitable inroads. Only a corporation with remarkable resources could withstand the early liquidity hit that could arise from breaking into a new region as the only market controller.
The North American market doesn’t produce many big-spending mobile players. Still, it produces some of the widest-ranging media and key opinion leaders. Let them work to Epic’s benefit by conducting the hype train through growing markets like India and South Korea.
Act now, before opportunity disappears
The Epic Games Store technically exists on Android and iOS but offers three games.
Epic shouldn’t squander this chance to salvage lost goodwill and return gratitude to gaming. America may not severely need a fourth platform to buy, install, and load titles from (although it wouldn’t hurt). Millions of people everywhere else also need new games, which necessitates work on infrastructure and interfaces.
Epic has the resources. It will find the developers. It can absorb the significant hit coming to the first mega-adopter of green gamers in underserved regions. Most companies would fold under such an obstacle. Epic has the fight in it, and Mr. Sweeney does, too. Speaking of the CEO, there’s another unique way he could help put Epic on the right path.
If you must engage, do so positively
Please, Tim, we are begging you
Far from a bad guy, Sweeney (right, next to John Carmack) has donated over $30 million worth of wilderness for conservation purposes.
Unlike most executives, Mr. Sweeney willingly interacts with the community. That’s mostly commendable, but those interactions aren’t always the most PR-friendly. The once-eager coder seems to hide under a layer of snappy replies, similar to a bitter Reddit agenda-posting, rather than commentary from one of gaming’s most storied houses. Epic’s most vocal supporters sometimes recoil at his public statements.
Outspoken defense of gimmicky, aggressive, or lackadaisical practices won’t help cement Epic’s place in gamers’ hearts. Snark won’t contribute much to what should be a labor of love. Deriding competitors doesn’t affect the software but could make would-be supporters loath to interact with or purchase from a platform.
Epic’s CEO criticizing “games launched by a single PC-only store” isn’t the best look.
Tim, I know you’ll read this eventually. I certainly don’t hate you. I’ve been playing your games since the earliest I can remember. A little less edge in your mentions would encourage friendlier feedback from hardcore gamers. Neither of those would hurt. Gamers love GabeN and much of what Valve does. Don’t respond to his rare public appearances like a bully. We’re afraid it’ll slow the development of Half-Life 3.
Can Epic get its groove back?
The answer is yes, but the clock is ticking
Lawn mowing simulators and railroad builders might not quite grab the market the way Epic needs.
We want to see Sweeney succeed after his company propped up our childhoods. Epic owns the Unreal Engine. We shouldn’t waste energy on annoying interfaces, marketing, or executive rhetoric.
We should talk about Epic’s return to profitability. We should praise Sweeney and company for uniting the world via 3D graphics. We want to celebrate diverse product delivery, including fresh Fortnite content for the youth (and the rappers), and diverse titles for the rest of us.
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Developers simply aren’t giving Android games the attention needed
Mobile games are still regarded as an afterthought
Epic has the resources to make the leap. If it moves decisively to seize the growing worldwide mobile market, takes advantage of today’s powerful handheld consoles, and rethinks its software and distribution, it could be a similar leader in the mobile space to what Steam is in the Windows and Linux realms. That would be a win for Epic, gamers, and Mr. Sweeney.
