The future of the Epic Games Store has become the subject of a public debate after a Newzoo analyst said he did not see how the platform could recover against Steam. However, Epic Games has strongly disputed that view, pointing to record third-party spending and billions of hours played on its storefront during 2025.
In an interview with PC Gamer, Newzoo Director of Market Intelligence Emmanuel Rosier argued that Steam had become too dominant.
“I don’t really see how they can turn that around,”
Rosier said, adding that Epic’s free games strategy may encourage users to collect titles without necessarily playing them.
Epic Games Disputes the Claim With Record 2025 Numbers
Epic Games Store Vice President and General Manager Martin Keely responded by highlighting the platform’s growth. According to Keely, players spent a record 2.78 billion hours playing third-party games on the Epic Games Store in 2025, while third-party PC game spending increased 57% to $400 million.
Epic’s official 2025 Year in Review also reported that total player spending on PC reached $1.16 billion, up 6% year over year. The store recorded more than 317 million PC players and reached a record 78 million monthly active users in December 2025.
Keely said,
“The data tells a very different story,”
and argued that the platform’s momentum would continue as Epic prepares to release an improved launcher.
The situation became more complicated after Newzoo distanced itself from Rosier’s assessment. The company said the remarks made in the PC Gamer interview
“were not supported by Newzoo data or analysis”
and did not account for relevant public evidence.
Newzoo added that Rosier’s comments should not be treated as an official assessment of the Epic Games Store’s market position. That distinction means the comments represented the analyst’s personal view rather than Newzoo’s broader institutional analysis.
Rosier also argued that Epic may have stretched itself too thin by competing with Steam on PC while simultaneously fighting major battles against Apple and Google. He suggested that Epic’s strongest area remains Fortnite, which he believes has become increasingly successful as a wider gaming platform.
For Epic Games Store, the bigger question is whether record growth can eventually translate into a stronger competitive position against Steam. Epic is betting that a faster launcher, storefront improvements, and continued third-party growth will help, while Rosier remains skeptical that the platform can meaningfully close the gap.
