Back in May last year, the Epic Games Store gave away Grand Theft Auto V for free. It was an obviously popular enough game that the giveaway crashed the server for awhile. Such a giveaway have looked to be a massive investment, but it looks to have payed off in a way for Epic. After all, the giveaway of that single game brought in seven million players to its digital storefront.
The Verge reports that documents that are part of the Epic vs Apple trial have revealed the figures. The second most successful giveaway was Civilization VI, which was made the free game a week after GTA V. But the number of players brought in by that giveaway trailed behind, at 2.5 million.
While the individual number is impressive, the Epic Games Store is still way behind in terms of monthly active users. The most recent figures peg it at 58 million, which is barely half that of Steam, which recorded 120 million monthly active users at the end of 2020. Though there’s no denying the incumbent advantage there.
All that being said, it’s safe to say that you can expect the Epic Games Store to be giving away more free games in the process of catching up. Though it remains to be seen if any can give it the runaway success that GTA V did.
(Source: The Verge)
