There are now more than 500 million Epic Games accounts: Epic

Epic Games has revealed that users have created more than 500 million Epic Games accounts.

The company didn’t reveal any further details, so it’s unclear how many people are actively using their accounts and buying games.

For years, Epic has been trying to position the Epic Games Store as a competitor to Steam through initiatives like lower revenue cuts from developers, free games and exclusives. The company has also acquired studios like Psyonix (Rocket League) and Mediatonic (Fall Guys).

However, it’s unclear exactly how well those efforts have been paying off. Based on findings from the Epic v. Apple trial, we know that Epic had racked up $330 million USD (about $418.6 million CAD) in unrecouped costs in 2020 alone from compensating companies for offering their free EGS games.

Of course, Epic isn’t hurting by any stretch. Fortnite alone continues to print money, while countless companies license its Unreal Engine platform. With respect to that latter point, Epic says nearly 50 percent of announced “next-gen” games (presumably meaning PS5/Xbox Series X and S) are being developed with its engine. Non-gaming properties like The Mandalorian also use Unreal Engine.

As well, Epic confirmed that more than six million people have downloaded the free “next-gen” Matrix Awakens experience, which was a tech demo for Unreal Engine 5.

Via: VentureBeat