2023’s Most Anticipated Games Revealed by Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store has shared its list of the top 20 most awaited games of 2023 among its users, as part of its Year in Review report. This news came at a time when the Fortnite developer launched a self-publishing tool to compete against Steam, as a way to express its ongoing rivalry with Valve.
The Epic Games Store was unveiled in December 2018, and quickly became the major competitor of the renowned platform Steam. It supplanted Origin and Uplay, now known as EA Play and Ubisoft Connect, respectively. This launch was conveniently aligned with the incredible success of Fortnite; the money accrued from the game enabled Epic Games to secure a variety of exclusive deals with developers, as well as a steady supply of free titles that are still a major factor in the platform’s growth.
Heads up to gamers! It was recently revealed that the Epic Games Store will be offering a free game for download on March 16th. This news comes shortly after it was announced that another title will be available for free on the platform in March. This time, it’s the turn-based strategy game, Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War.
The North Carolina-based company’s recent Year in Review report featured an unordered list of the 20 most anticipated 2023 games among its users. Of the highlighted titles, about half are AAA games such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor , Assassin’s Creed Mirage , Skull and Bones , and The Last of Us Part 1 , while the rest are indies, including some Epic Games Store PC exclusives like Tchia and Crime Boss: Rockay City. Additionally, the list includes a few AA games, like Hades 2 and STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl. It is thought that these titles were derived from user polls, given that not all of the listed titles can be wishlisted on Epic Games Store.
The report recently published indicated that the digital marketplace had 230 million PC users since the start of the year, representing a 19% increase from 2021. Additionally, 68 million active users were recorded in December, a 10% growth from the previous year. Despite this, the platform noted a slight decrease in sales, totaling $820 million in 2022 – $20 million less than the preceding year, which could be attributed to the pandemic and its effects. The total value of the free Epic Games Store titles given out in 2022 was in the thousands of dollars, as reported.
Genshin Impact, GTA Online, Fortnite, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake managed to be included in the 2021 list of the top ten Epic Games Store titles by player spend and engagement. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues, but what is sure is that the Epic Games Store is advancing quickly.
At the Epic Games Store in 2022, there were numerous accomplishments to celebrate. The store attained a wide array of games and content, including exclusive titles and free games each week. It also achieved a massive increase in users, with the active user base growing more than four times over the year. Additionally, the store provided developers with a variety of tools to help them release their games, as well as a much higher percentage of revenue for their titles. Finally, Epic Games Store was able to give back to the community with its Support-A-Creator Program and other charitable initiatives. All in all, it was a successful year for the Epic Games Store.