The battle of Steam vs Epic Games Store has shaped the PC gaming landscape, influencing how players and developers interact with digital storefronts. Steam, originally launched in September 2003 to provide automatic updates for Valve’s games, expanded into a digital distribution powerhouse. Over time, it introduced third-party titles (2005), community features like Steam Workshop (2011), and game discoverability tools such as Steam Greenlight (2012), Discovery (2014), and Steam Labs (2019). By 2019, it had amassed over a billion registered user accounts, cementing its dominance in PC gaming.
Epic Games, initially a game development company, entered the storefront arena with the Epic Games Store (EGS), leveraging the massive success of Fortnite to attract players and developers. Its mission? To challenge Steam’s monopoly by offering a more developer-friendly revenue split and securing exclusive titles.
While platforms like GOG, Itch.io, Origin, Battle.net, and Uplay exist, this article focuses on how Steam vs Epic compares in terms of UI/UX, features, and game discoverability.
UI/UX: Which Storefront Does It Better?
Steam: Feature-Rich but Cluttered
Steam’s interface, while familiar, had become outdated and cluttered due to years of feature additions. While powerful, its layered menus and overwhelming options made navigation cumbersome, especially for new users. The 2019 Steam library beta aimed to address this by streamlining the user experience.
Epic Games Store: Sleek but Barebones
Epic’s interface, in contrast, was minimalist and clean, making it easy to navigate. However, it lacked essential quality-of-life features like a shopping cart, user reviews, and wishlists. While its streamlined UI made purchasing effortless, the lack of community-driven discovery tools put it behind Steam in terms of usability.
Game Selection: Quantity vs. Quality
Steam’s vast library grew exponentially, particularly after the shift from Steam Greenlight to Steam Direct, which allowed indie developers to publish games with minimal barriers. This opened the floodgates for both innovative indie gems and low-quality, asset-flipped games, as Steam adopted a hands-off approach to curation—including adult and NSFW content.
Epic took a different approach, curating its game selection and avoiding low-quality titles. While this ensured a higher standard, it also meant fewer choices for gamers.
Features and Community Tools
While Epic Games Store was continuously adding new features like wishlists, refunds, achievements, and user reviews, Steam already had these in place. Steam’s community ecosystem was also leagues ahead, featuring:
- Forums & player-created guides
- Screenshot, video, and artwork sharing
- Game broadcasting
- Mods via Steam Workshop
- Family Sharing
- Game curations & recommendations
Epic lacked these tools, relying on external platforms for community engagement.
Free Games and Exclusives: Who Wins?
Epic Games Store distinguished itself with weekly free games—permanently claimable once added to a user’s library. However, many of these games had already been part of past bundles or were offered free elsewhere, diminishing their exclusivity.
Exclusives weren’t a major concern for Steam at the time. Other platforms like Battle.net and Origin had exclusive games for years, and titles like Hades, initially an Epic exclusive, later arrived on Steam.
Takeaways: Which Storefront Wins?
I bought The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from a local retailer years ago. Upon installation, I was required to create a Steam account. Since then, I’ve invested heavily in my Steam library—expanding my collection, unlocking achievements, and curating my profile.
As a gamer, I don’t mind competition between Steam and Epic. In fact, competition could push Steam to innovate and improve. However, if more developers favor Epic due to its better revenue split, leading to fewer quality titles on Steam, I might reconsider my stance.
Steam has years of experience, while Epic is still building its foundation. Data-driven improvements may allow Epic to match or even surpass Steam, but for me to switch entirely, a few conditions would have to be met:
- My entire Steam library (excluding exclusives) would need to transfer over.
- My achievements and progress would need to be recognized on Epic.
But that’s unlikely to happen—at least, not anytime soon. That’s a discussion for another time.
