The Epic Games Store grows like never before, but still fails to convert into sales

The player base has multiplied since 2019, although spending on third-party games remains stagnant.

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For years, the strategy of giving away games has driven the growth of Epic Games Store, but recent data paints a striking contrast. Despite a massive increase in users, revenue has not kept pace with that growth.

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According to figures compiled from public data, the Epic store went from 108 million users in 2019 to 295 million in December 2024, representing a 173% increase. However, revenue from third-party games has barely advanced during the same period.

Many new users, little additional spending

In 2024, the Epic Games Store generated $255 million in third-party revenue, just $4 million more than in 2019. In percentage terms, the growth in gross revenue is only 1.6%, a very low figure compared to the increase in the player base.

The reading from part of the community is clear: many users join to claim free games and then return to Steam to buy and play for the rest of the time. Steam, in fact, closed its best holiday season in December 2025, reinforcing its dominant position on PC.

Epic acknowledges the problem. Tim Sweeney has pointed out on several occasions that the launcher is still slower and more complex than Steam’s, a factor that makes it difficult to retain and convert users into regular buyers.

The data leaves a clear conclusion: growing in users does not guarantee growing revenue. Epic has managed to attract millions of players, but converting that audience into sales remains its biggest challenge, especially when faced with a Steam that continues to set the pace in the PC market.