Epic Games Store vs Steam Market Share (2025)

The battle between Epic Games Store and Steam has defined PC digital distribution over recent years. While Steam maintains overwhelming dominance, Epic has pursued aggressive strategies to capture market share through developer incentives and free game offerings. Understanding the actual numbers behind this competition reveals a landscape where perception often diverges from reality, particularly when examining monetized revenue versus user registrations.

Epic Games Store vs Steam Market Share in 2025

The PC digital distribution market remains heavily concentrated, with Steam commanding approximately 74 percent of global market share as of 2025. This dominance extends across multiple metrics including revenue generation, concurrent users, and third-party game sales. Epic Games Store, despite significant user growth reaching 295 million registered accounts, captures only a small fraction of monetized transactions.

Steam generated approximately 9.8 billion dollars in revenue during 2024, demonstrating the platform’s continued commercial strength. The gap between the two platforms becomes even more apparent when examining Steam concurrent player statistics, which reached a record 40.27 million users in March 2025. This milestone reflects not just registration numbers but active engagement that translates into meaningful revenue for publishers and developers.

PC Gaming Market Share Breakdown by Platform

When analyzing the PC gaming market, Steam captures roughly 75 percent of all PC game downloads according to industry research. This measurement differs slightly from revenue share but reinforces the platform’s position as the default choice for most PC gamers. The remaining quarter splits among Epic Games Store, GOG, Origin, and other smaller platforms, with Epic representing the largest alternative at approximately 8 percent of downloads.

The digital distribution landscape has evolved considerably since Epic entered the market in 2018. While newcomers have historically struggled to dent Steam’s position, Epic’s approach of securing exclusive titles and offering free games has generated substantial user growth. However, converting registered users into paying customers remains challenging, as evidenced by the significant gap between Epic’s user base and actual spending patterns.

Steam Dominance in PC Digital Distribution

Steam’s market position rests on decades of infrastructure development and network effects that create substantial barriers for competitors. The platform processed over 132 million monthly active users in 2025, with engagement levels that consistently exceed industry averages. Beyond raw numbers, Steam offers an integrated marketplace that generated over 800 million dollars in community transactions during 2024, demonstrating the ecosystem’s depth.

Revenue Performance and Third-Party Sales

Third-party game sales represent the most meaningful comparison point for measuring platform success. Steam’s third-party revenue ranges between 8 and 10 billion dollars annually, driven by a massive catalog and established publisher relationships. The platform’s revenue split of 70/30 has faced criticism, yet developers continue prioritizing Steam releases due to the platform’s unmatched reach and discoverability features.

Steam’s concurrent user peaks tell a story of sustained growth and engagement. The platform has expanded from 6.6 million peak concurrent users in 2013 to over 40 million in 2025, representing approximately 500 percent growth across twelve years. These numbers reflect genuine user activity rather than inflated registration figures, making them particularly valuable for understanding actual platform usage.

Gaming Platform Infrastructure and Features

The technical infrastructure supporting Steam extends far beyond simple game distribution. Cloud saves, workshop content, trading cards, community forums, and streaming integration create an interconnected experience that keeps users engaged. This ecosystem approach mirrors successful strategies seen across mobile gaming revenue platforms that leverage multiple engagement vectors to drive retention.

Epic Games Store Growth Metrics and Market Position

Epic Games Store achieved 295 million registered PC users by 2024, representing substantial growth since the platform’s 2018 launch. Daily active users averaged 31.5 million during 2024, with peaks reaching 37.2 million during major events and game releases. These figures demonstrate Epic’s success in attracting users, primarily through weekly free game offerings that have distributed billions of dollars worth of content.

Third-Party Revenue and Monetization Challenges

Despite impressive user numbers, Epic’s third-party revenue totaled only 255 million dollars in 2024, representing a concerning 18 percent decline from the previous year. This figure accounts for games sold through Epic’s payment processing system and excludes revenue from first-party titles like Fortnite. When compared against Steam’s 8 to 10 billion dollar third-party ecosystem, Epic captures approximately 3 percent of the market.

The monetization challenge reflects a broader issue in digital distribution where user acquisition differs fundamentally from revenue generation. Many Epic users claim free games without purchasing additional content, creating a situation where the platform serves as a supplementary library rather than a primary storefront. This pattern resembles behaviors observed in average gaming session patterns where platform loyalty strongly influences purchasing decisions.

Game Library and Content Availability

Epic Games Store catalog reached approximately 4,000 products by the end of 2024, following the addition of 1,100 new titles during the year. While representing significant growth, this library remains substantially smaller than Steam’s catalog of over 50,000 games. The quality versus quantity debate continues, with Epic maintaining stricter curation compared to Steam’s more open marketplace approach.

Platform Revenue Share Models and Developer Incentives

Epic revolutionized platform economics by offering an 88/12 revenue split that contrasts sharply with Steam’s traditional 30 percent cut. From June 2025, Epic enhanced this offering further, providing 100 percent revenue share on the first million dollars of net revenue per product annually. These terms represent the most developer-friendly model in mainstream PC distribution.

Impact on Market Share and Developer Adoption

Despite favorable terms, developer adoption hasn’t translated into proportional market share gains. Many developers pursue a multi-platform strategy, launching simultaneously on Steam and Epic to capture both platforms’ audiences. Exclusive deals, which initially drove Epic’s content strategy, have become less common as the platform matures and focuses on organic growth.

The revenue split advantage matters most for smaller developers and indies who depend heavily on platform fees. For major publishers generating millions in sales, the difference between 70 percent and 88 percent becomes significant. However, publishers must weigh this against Steam’s superior discoverability, larger user base, and established purchasing patterns that often result in higher gross sales despite the larger platform cut.

User Base Analysis and Active Engagement Patterns

Registered users provide an incomplete picture of platform health without examining active engagement metrics. Steam’s 132 million monthly active users represent a substantially higher engagement rate compared to Epic’s metrics, particularly when considering purchase frequency and average spending per user. This disparity suggests many Epic accounts remain dormant or exclusively used for claiming free games.

Concurrent Users and Platform Activity

Peak concurrent users offer valuable insight into genuine platform usage. Steam’s 40.27 million peak represents approximately 30 percent of monthly active users online simultaneously, indicating strong engagement patterns. Epic’s peak of 37.2 million daily active users, while impressive, includes significant activity from Fortnite rather than the broader game store ecosystem.

Gaming engagement patterns vary significantly across platforms and demographics, as evidenced by research into player behavior across different game types. The relationship between platform features and user retention becomes particularly apparent when examining how cooperative games transition to digital platforms, where convenience features and social integration drive repeat engagement.

Market Share Projections and Future Outlook for 2026

Industry analysts project Steam maintaining approximately 72 percent market share through 2026, with Epic Games Store growing modestly to around 8.2 percent. These forecasts assume continued investment in platform features and content acquisition while acknowledging the substantial inertia favoring established platforms. The remaining 19.8 percent fragments across GOG, Microsoft Store, and emerging competitors.

Growth Factors and Market Dynamics

Several factors influence future market share trajectories. Epic’s continued free game program costs hundreds of millions annually but successfully drives user acquisition. Whether these users convert to paying customers at sufficient rates to justify the investment remains unclear. Meanwhile, Steam continues adding features and expanding its ecosystem without dramatic revenue model changes.

The broader gaming landscape context matters for understanding platform competition. While PC digital distribution represents one segment, the overall gaming market encompasses mobile, console, and cloud gaming. Platform holders increasingly pursue cross-platform strategies, recognizing that exclusive ecosystems may limit growth compared to accessibility-focused approaches seen in streaming platforms competing for creator and viewer attention.

Competitive Threats and Emerging Platforms

Both Steam and Epic face potential disruption from cloud gaming services and direct publisher storefronts. Microsoft’s Game Pass and cloud gaming initiatives represent a fundamentally different distribution model that could reshape PC gaming access. Similarly, major publishers like EA, Ubisoft, and Activision maintain proprietary launchers, fragmenting the market and complicating share calculations.

Third-Party Sales Comparison and Revenue Reality

Third-party game sales provide the clearest metric for comparing platform commercial success. Steam’s estimated 8 to 10 billion dollars in third-party revenue dwarfs Epic’s 255 million dollars, creating a ratio of approximately 97 to 3 percent. This massive disparity exists despite Epic’s larger nominal revenue split advantage, highlighting the dominance of Steam’s installed base and purchasing ecosystem.

Understanding Revenue versus User Metrics

The divergence between user counts and revenue share illustrates a critical distinction in platform analysis. Epic’s 295 million registered users sounds impressive until examining how many actively purchase games beyond free offerings. This phenomenon mirrors broader trends in digital services where active engagement and monetization lag significantly behind registration numbers.

Platform loyalty and purchasing behavior develop over years of positive experiences. Steam users have accumulated extensive libraries, friend networks, and community involvement that create substantial switching costs. Even with Epic’s superior revenue split and free games, convincing users to shift primary purchasing behavior requires overcoming deeply entrenched habits and social connections.

Gaming Ecosystem and Community Features Impact

Steam’s ecosystem extends far beyond simple game distribution into a comprehensive social platform. Workshop content, trading markets, streaming integration, and robust community features create what economists call network effects, where each additional user increases the platform’s value for all participants. These features represent years of development investment that competitors struggle to replicate quickly.

Marketplace and User-Generated Content

The Steam marketplace processed over 800 million dollars in community transactions during 2024, representing a significant revenue stream beyond game sales. Trading cards, cosmetics, and user-created workshop content generate ongoing engagement and economic activity that keeps users returning to the platform. Epic has yet to develop comparable community commerce features, limiting its ecosystem stickiness.

Community features influence platform selection beyond simple game availability. Players considering gaming time investment often prioritize platforms where friends congregate and communities thrive. Steam’s extensive friend systems, groups, and communication tools have cultivated a social infrastructure that Epic continues building but hasn’t matched in scope or adoption.

Developer Perspective on Platform Distribution Strategies

Developers face complex decisions when choosing distribution platforms, balancing revenue splits against audience reach and feature sets. Epic’s 88/12 split and improved terms from June 2025 offer clear financial advantages, particularly for smaller studios where platform fees significantly impact profitability. However, Steam’s massive user base and superior discovery algorithms often deliver higher gross revenue despite the larger cut.

Exclusive Deals and Multi-Platform Releases

Epic initially pursued exclusive content agreements to drive platform adoption, offering guaranteed revenue to developers in exchange for limited-time exclusivity. This strategy generated controversy among some gamers while providing financial security for developers. As Epic’s strategy evolved, exclusive deals became less central, with most developers now pursuing simultaneous multi-platform launches to maximize reach.

The multi-platform approach acknowledges that different platforms serve distinct audience segments. Steam users skew toward hardcore PC gamers with extensive libraries, while Epic attracts players drawn by free offerings and exclusive titles. Developers maximize revenue by serving both audiences rather than choosing one platform exclusively, similar to how content creators distribute across multiple streaming platforms to reach diverse viewerships.

Regional Market Variations in Platform Adoption

Platform market share varies considerably by region, influenced by factors including payment infrastructure, local pricing, and cultural preferences. Steam maintains strong positions in North America, Europe, and East Asia, while Epic’s penetration varies more significantly. Regional analysis reveals that global averages mask substantial local market differences that affect overall platform strategies.

Payment Methods and Regional Accessibility

Steam’s extensive support for regional payment methods and currencies provides advantages in markets where credit card adoption remains limited. The platform accepts various local payment systems, mobile payments, and prepaid cards that expand accessibility beyond traditional banking infrastructure. Epic continues expanding regional payment options but hasn’t achieved parity with Steam’s decades of global expansion.

Impact of Free Game Strategies on User Acquisition

Epic’s weekly free game program represents one of the most aggressive user acquisition strategies in digital distribution history. The program has distributed billions of dollars worth of games since 2018, successfully driving registration growth to 295 million accounts. However, the conversion rate from free game claimers to paying customers remains below what Epic needs to achieve meaningful market share gains in revenue terms.

Long-Term Sustainability of Free Content

The financial sustainability of Epic’s free game strategy remains debated within the industry. While successfully building a user base, the program requires substantial ongoing investment without guaranteed return. Epic’s position as a subsidiary of Epic Games, supported by Fortnite revenue, enables this approach. Independent platforms couldn’t sustain comparable giveaways, highlighting Epic’s unique competitive advantage.

Technical Infrastructure and Platform Performance

Platform technical performance influences user satisfaction and retention beyond content availability and pricing. Steam’s mature infrastructure handles massive concurrent loads with relative stability, developed through decades of refinement. Epic has encountered occasional technical challenges during major free game releases or exclusive launches, though platform stability has improved significantly since initial launch.

Download Speeds and Server Infrastructure

Download performance matters considerably for user experience, particularly for large modern games frequently exceeding 100 gigabytes. Steam’s extensive content delivery network and regional server infrastructure generally deliver excellent speeds across global markets. Epic continues investing in CDN expansion, though some users report variable performance compared to Steam’s established network.