Epic Releases 2025 Year in Review: Third-Party Game Spending Surges 57% to a Record $400 Million; Platform Infrastructure Set for Overhaul

At 10:00 PM on February 3, Epic Games announced that its store had set new records in 2025, with player spending on third-party games reaching $400 million (a 57% increase), playtime for third-party games totaling 2.78 billion hours, and the platform’s peak monthly active users exceeding 78 million.The total number of games also surpassed 6,000, and the platform’s ongoing free game giveaways continue to drive the discovery of new titles and encourage players to use the platform. Below is a more detailed review of Epic’s 2025 performance and preliminary plans for 2026.

Since developers who handle in-game payments themselves get to keep 100% of the revenue, this record-breaking spending figure does not even include some major live-service games such as *Marvel Strike Force*, *Valorant*, *GTA V*, and *EA SPORTS FC™ 26*.

New data from the Epic Games Store reveals that players have spent 2.78 billion hours playing third-party games. Of that total, 35% of player hours were spent in third-party games where developers used their own payment solutions for in-app purchases.

Players are spending more and more time on third-party games, thanks to competitive pricing, free-to-play titles on PC and mobile, and Epic rewards. Our continued focus on developer choice and industry-leading revenue-sharing models is driving our partners’ success and bringing more high-quality games to players.

The Epic Games Store has reached a record high of 78 million monthly active users on PC

In the store, we saw continued growth in player engagement, with player spending also increasing across a more diverse partner product catalog. In 2025, total player playtime reached 6.65 billion hours. Although overall playtime declined year-over-year, playtime for third-party games increased by 4%. PC players spent $1.16 billion on the Epic Games Store, a 6% increase from the previous year. The Free Games program also continued to drive game discovery and player engagement.In 2025, players claimed 662 million games through the program. More than 77% of games set all-time peak Concurrent Users (CCU) records on the store during their free claim week. This generated a significant halo effect across the broader PC ecosystem, including a 40% increase in Steam’s CCU during the period when the game was available for free on the Epic Games Store.

The Epic Games Store continues to grow, now featuring over 6,000 games, and developers can keep the first $1 million in revenue

The Epic Games Store currently features a catalog of over 6,000 games, ranging from blockbuster titles to innovative indie games.

We have revised our revenue-sharing model to allow developers to retain a larger share of their earnings and reinvest directly in their studios and projects. Starting in June 2025, developers will retain 100% of the first $1 million in annual net revenue for each product before the standard 88/12 split applies.

Developers are also free to use their own payment systems in their games, and Epic does not take any revenue from these purchases. In addition, participation in programs such as Epic First Run and Epic Launch Everywhere has reached an all-time high, helping more developers earn more revenue from every game sold.

We have also launched Epic Web Shops, which allows developers to set up their own digital stores within the Epic ecosystem (on both PC and mobile). This is a new way for developers to sell game content directly to players, leveraging Epic’s global distribution network and established e-commerce platform—even if their games are not listed on the Epic Games Store. Epic Web Shops are cross-platform web stores that operate on both PC and mobile.

2025 PC and Mobile Store Feature Enhancements—Over 100,000 Gifts Given Away During the Holiday Season

Last year, we launched a brand-new download manager to make game installations faster and more convenient. We also optimized the search and browsing experience on both the web and PC, making it easier to discover games. In November, we introduced the gifting feature on the Epic Games Store, allowing players to send games directly to friends and family. During the holiday season, players sent over 100,000 gifts.On the mobile front, we began supporting third-party games, launched our first mobile free-to-play initiative, and significantly improved the speed at which the mobile store opens and operates. We also introduced the Epic Games App companion app, which launched on iOS in December and expanded to Android in January of the following year.This app allows players to enable two-factor authentication for their Epic accounts via their phones and participate in text chat within the Epic ecosystem. A new version of the text chat feature, launched alongside the app, connects *Fortnite*, the Epic mobile app, and the Epic Games Launcher. Chat history syncs across platforms and connects directly to *Fortnite*’s text chat, making it easy for players to stay connected no matter where they are.

Redesigning the Store’s Underlying Architecture: Looking Ahead to 2026

This year, we will focus on delivering features that players have long anticipated and on deeper platform optimizations. We are completely rearchitecting the underlying infrastructure of the Epic Games Store launcher and plan to launch an optimized version this summer. The new architecture will deliver a smoother store interface, faster loading times, and greater stability. To create a better social experience for players, we will establish community spaces within the Epic Games Store and upgrade cross-platform text chat with new features such as avatars, player profiles, and private messaging.These social capabilities will later be extended to Epic Online Services, allowing other developers to integrate text chat into their own games later this year. In the second quarter, we will add voice chat and cross-game party features to the social framework. We will also launch an official partnership program that leverages the marketing reach of Fortnite to help developers boost sales.Players who purchase games participating in the program will receive corresponding Fortnite cosmetic rewards and unlock matching Epic account avatars. The program will launch in the first half of the year, with initial partners including Capcom, miHoYo, Pearl Abyss, S-Game, MintRocket, and Kakao Games. Additional IP partnerships will be announced in the future.

The currently confirmed and leaked plans for Fortnite's 2026 and 2027 collaborations are as follows:

• More than 40 game collaboration projects in 2026
• More than 60 game collaboration projects in 2027
• "The Last Airbender: The Series" Second Collaboration

• "Young Hacker"

• *Chainsaw Man*

• "Red Desert"

• 《Ember and Blade》

• "Honkai: Star Rail"

• IShowSpeed Secondary Integration

• "K-Pop: The Witch Hunters" Second Collaboration

• Le Yitong
• "Marvel Showdown" Second Collaboration
• New Mercedes Collaboration Project
• "Lego Ninjago" Second Collaboration
• "Overwatch"
• *Resident Evil: Requiem*
• "Leveling Up Alone"
• *Sonic the Hedgehog*
• Unannounced partnership with Kakao Games
• Unannounced partnership with MintRocket
• Unannounced Major Game Collaboration
• and more fan-favorite works

This fall, we will launch a unified game library across platforms (PC and mobile) and introduce regionalized stores featuring localized recommendations. On the mobile side, we will roll out library management features in the second quarter to make it easier for players to find the games they want to play. We will further expand iOS support in Japan in March and in Brazil in June. This summer, we plan to open up third-party APIs to our mobile partners and expand our self-service publishing tools.

We are building a market that is fairer and more open for both players and developers. As we enter 2026, we remain committed to empowering developers and delivering the best possible experience for players across all platforms.

Epic Games Store 2025 Data and Statistics: Summary of Revenue and Engagement

• Players spent $400 million on third-party PC games on the Epic Games Store (+57%)
• Total playtime for third-party games: 2.78 billion hours (+4%)

• PC gamers spent a total of $1.16 billion on the Epic Games Store (+6%)
• Total playtime in the store: 6.65 billion hours (-14%)
• Total cross-platform accounts: 972 million (+8%)
• The total number of PC gamers exceeds 317 million

• In December 2025, monthly active users reached a record high of 78 million (+6%)
• Annual average monthly active users: 67 million (-1%)
• Annual average daily active users: 31 million (-2%)

Free Games

• A total of 100 free games are available
• Players have claimed a total of 662 million copies
• Each player received games worth a total of $2,316
• Average rating for free games: 78%

Follow us on social media

• Instagram: 6.2 million followers
• X (Twitter): 5.4 million followers
• Facebook: 1.5 million followers
• TikTok: 1.5 million followers

Top PC Games of 2025

Mythic: *Fortnite*

, *Roar of
the Tide*, *Honkai: Star Rail*,
*Rocket League*, *Genshin Impact*

Legendary
: EA SPORTS FC™ 26,
Zero,
Grand Theft Auto V, Dead by Daylight, Infinite Nami

Epic Games
: *Football Manager 2024*,
*Alan Wake 2*
, *EA SPORTS FC 25*,
*Sid Meier’s Civilization VI*
, *Hogwarts Legacy*
, *Rainbow Six Siege*
, *Dead Island 2*
"Borderlands 4,"

"Red Dead Redemption 2," "Dome Raid"

A highly anticipated work

*Resident Evil: Requiem*
*Red Desert*
*Seven Knights RE:BIRTH*
*Screamer*
*Control: Resonance*
*Mongil: Star Dive*
*End of Abyss*
*Subnautica 2*
*Odyssey of Time and Space*
*Ember and Blade*
《Lord of the Fallen 2》
《Out of Words》
《Tide of Oblivion》
《007: A New Beginning》
《Kingmakers》
《LEGO Batman: The Dark Knight’s Legacy》
《Shadow Blade Zero》
《Re-Shaped》
《Venom Squad》
《Infinitesimals》

Although Epic has consistently attracted a large player base through free game giveaways and developer-friendly revenue-sharing policies, it has long been criticized for issues such as slow download speeds, the lack of a Creative Workshop, and insufficient community features—factors that many believe are the fundamental reasons why it cannot compete with Steam.In this year-end review, Epic explicitly acknowledged these core pain points and announced plans to completely overhaul the launcher’s underlying architecture in 2026, while also improving and adding social features such as community spaces, voice chat, cross-game teaming, and private messaging. If successfully implemented, this series of improvements could significantly enhance the platform experience and help Epic gain greater recognition from players in its competition with rivals like Steam.