Epic Games Store Updates to Compete with Steam

Key Takeaways

1. New preloading feature for games will be available in September 2025, allowing users to preload games ahead of launch.
2. Users can gift games to friends and family during the Christmas season.
3. Introduction of text and voice chat features to enhance social interaction on the Epic Games Store.
4. A new system will enable players to form groups and send out invitations, improving user experience.
5. Publishers will receive better revenue terms, with 100% of the first million dollars going to developers before reverting to the original split.

The State of Unreal conference took place on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, allowing Epic Games Store to reveal a variety of new features for its launcher. It’s about time Epic made significant improvements to enhance its platform’s user experience to match that of competitors like Steam.

New Preloading Feature

The first exciting addition is the preloading of games ahead of their launch, set to be available in September 2025. This is a significant upgrade, especially since currently, only pre-orders can be made. Users will also have the option to gift games to friends or family during the Christmas season.

Enhancements in Social Interaction

Moreover, while Epic Games Store has various functionalities, there has been a notable gap in social interaction options. This is set to change as text and voice chat features will be introduced. Additionally, a new system will allow players to form groups and send out invitations.

These enhancements have the potential to significantly improve the overall user experience on the launcher.

Delayed Innovations

One might ask why these new features have taken such a long time to be implemented, especially since competing platforms adopted them years ago, achieving considerable global success.

On a positive note, Epic Games Store has also shared good news for publishers. They will now benefit from better terms compared to before, with 100% of the revenue for the first million dollars going directly to game developers. After surpassing this amount, the revenue split will revert to the original 88% for the publisher and 12% for Epic Games Store.

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