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The original was posted on /r/pcgaming by /u/SegaSystem16C on 2023-08-13 03:02:56+00:00.

Epic Game Store is widely know for the free game copies they give every so often. I understand this is a tactic used to get more users/accounts on their storefront, and maybe get them to spend their money on full priced games later. I’m also aware a lot of people just get the free games and never install and play them - I myself do this, I never once installed their launcher.

However, I’m more interested in what kind of effects this might have on EGS users years down the line. I heard some time ago Epic does this so kids can build their own game libraries with these free games, so when they are old enough with their own money they will choose to stay on EGS - where all their games are - instead of jumping to another storefront/launcher, like Steam.

But, isn’t Epic incentivizing the behavior of these EGS users expecting free games instead of buying them on their store? More often than not I’ve seen players complaining when EGS repeat games they gave away for free months or years prior, as if Epic has some obligation to aways give new games. I’ve seen people complain when EGS gives away small/indie games, instead of bigger AAA games. This might be a small subsection of the EGS userbase, but what if this growns and this strategy backfires on EGS years down the line? What would happen if one day Epic decides to not give more free copies of games?

No, this is not a post about me being worries about some million dollar company, I’m just curious to see the ramifications of this. I wanted to talk about this with other PC players.