The Epic Games Store has finally integrated a feature long requested by platform users and a staple of digital retailing. With the official announcement, it’s now possible to gift digital games to your friends through the Epic Games Store. This new feature allows you to purchase a game you love and send it to anyone you choose. However, for this to work seamlessly, the recipient must also have an active Epic Games account.
Epic Games Store has officially launched the game gifting feature
The process of sending a gift is structured in a very simple way within the user interface. When you enter a game’s store page, you’ll see a new “Gift” button just below the standard “Buy Now” button. Clicking this button will prompt you to log in to your account if you’re not already logged in. Next, select the Epic account of the person you want to send the game to, choose one of the available message templates, and specify when the gift should arrive. This means you can schedule the gift delivery date yourself and schedule it for special occasions.
Epic Games has also announced a user-friendly return policy to avoid any potential confusion. If the person you’re trying to gift already owns the game, your payment is automatically refunded. Similarly, if the recipient rejects your gift, you can get your money back. However, it’s worth noting that not every piece of content on the platform can be gifted. Free games, subscription services, pre-purchase offers, and virtual in-game currencies are currently excluded from the gifting system, and these items cannot be gifted to anyone else.
Game gifting is one of the most fundamental functions of online stores, so the Epic Games Store’s failure to offer this feature until now was more surprising than its inclusion. One reason for this delay may be that the company has prioritized undercutting the commission rates of Steam and the Apple App Store. As you may recall, the company previously announced that it would not deduct the first $1 million in revenue generated by developers and would only take a 12% cut thereafter. With this strategy, the platform, which focuses on attracting both developers and new users with free games, has now begun to develop its store features.
This long-missing feature will be a very useful tool for players to bring joy to one another and expand their game libraries. So, what are your thoughts on the Epic Games Store’s new gifting system and its limitations? Are you planning to gift a game to your friends through this feature anytime soon?
