Epic Games has officially pulled back the curtain on its 2025 Year in Review, and while the numbers are certainly heading in the right direction, the real story for 2026 is a massive “rebuilding” of the storefront itself.
For those of us who have spent years grumbling about the Epic Games Launcher, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully. Epic’s VP and GM, Steve Allison, has confirmed that the team is currently rebuilding the store on PC from the ground up.
Rebuilding the Storefront
The main goal for 2026 is performance. Epic is focusing on making the launcher significantly faster while reducing the amount of memory it gobbles up in the background. According to Allison, the new and improved Epic Games Store should feel “fast and snappy” and is expected to ship by June 2026.
This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint; it’s a technical overhaul designed to make the multiplatform experience spanning PC, Mac, iOS, and Android feel seamless.
Key Features and 2025 Stats
- Third-Party Spending: Players spent a record $400 million on third-party PC games, a massive 57% increase year-on-year.
- Total Expenditure: Total player spend across the store reached $1.16 billion.
- User Base: Monthly Active Users (MAU) hit a record high of 78 million.
- Game Catalogue: The store now boasts over 6,000 games, up from roughly 4,000 at the end of 2024.
- Freebie Power: 662 million free games were claimed in 2025, with 77% of those titles seeing an all-time peak in concurrent players during their free period.
Tell Me More
Beyond the performance fixes, Epic is leaning heavily into its “Web Shops” service, which launched in late 2025. This allows for in-game purchases to be handled through Epic’s own commerce platform, often bypassing the hefty commissions charged by mobile platform holders.
For the developers, the “Epic First Run” program, which offers 100% revenue share for the first six months of exclusivity, continues to be a major draw. Epic noted that they saw “all-time highs” in developer participation this past year, which explains why we’re seeing more big-name titles like Silent Hill f and Resident Evil: Requiem making their way to the platform.
What We Think
It’s no secret that the Epic Games Launcher has felt a bit “heavy”, well, to be completely blunt its miles behind in basically every way compared to the likes of Steam or even some of the leaner indie launchers. News of a total rebuild is exactly what the community has been asking for. If they can deliver a snappy, lightweight client by June, it might finally win over the sceptics who only log in once a week to grab their free game.
Where to Buy
You can download the current (and soon-to-be-replaced) launcher directly from the Epic Games Store.
