Epic Games Store, which was launched in 2018, has become one of the most popular digital game stores today, competing closely with Steam. One of the key factors contributing to its growth has been its practice of offering free games regularly.

For the past few years, Epic Games Store has been offering one or more games for free every week, distributing thousands of dollars worth of games for free. This includes popular titles like GTA 5, attracting a significant increase in user base. So, how much money did gamers spend on Epic Games Store in 2023?

Gamers spent millions of dollars on Epic Games Store

In a recent report published on its official website, Epic Games revealed how 2023 went for the platform. The most notable announcement was about the store’s expansion to iOS. Additionally, the company disclosed the amount of money gamers spent and other significant metrics.

According to the latest data from Epic Games, gamers spent a total of $950 million on the platform in 2023. It was mentioned that a significant portion of this spending, $310 million, came from games developed by third-party developers, not Epic Games itself. Compared to the previous year, there was a 16% increase in spending.

The store, which hosts more than 2,900 games, reported reaching 270 million users in 2023, an increase of 40 million from the previous year. The daily average active user count reached 36.1 million, while the monthly active user count saw a 10% increase, reaching 75 million.

As mentioned earlier, Epic Games Store regularly offers one or more games for free every week. According to the company’s data, 86 games were given away for free last year, and players claimed over 580 million free games in total.

It was reported that the total value of these games was over $2,000. If we make a rough calculation, assuming each game costs an average of $23 (2000 / 86), and multiply it by 580 million, we see that Epic Games incurred a loss of $13.34 billion for distributing free games. However, the company sees this as an investment that increases its user base.

Epic Games has undoubtedly achieved significant success. However, whether this success will remain small or large compared to Steam remains to be seen.

What are your thoughts on this? Did you make any purchases on the Epic Games Store last year? You can share your opinions with us in the comments section below.