Dave Oshry, one of the founders of publisher New Blood, shared an interesting update about Blood West — and it’s not what most would expect. During the holiday season, when the game was available for free on the Epic Games Store, its sales on Steam actually skyrocketed. How much? A staggering 200% increase compared to normal sales days.
Free on Epic, But Selling More on Steam
Oshry explained on X (formerly Twitter) that on the very day Blood West was being offered for free on Epic Games Store, the game saw a massive sales spike on Steam — selling about 200% more than usual.
In simpler terms: even though the game was free on Epic, people were still buying it on Steam. The exposure generated by Epic’s giveaway created buzz and curiosity, leading many players to purchase the game on Valve’s platform instead of grabbing the free version.
Oshry admitted he used to think the Epic Games Store was a “black hole” in terms of marketing. However, this experience proved him wrong. According to him, “having your game be free on Epic is great advertising for Steam sales.”
He also clarified that New Blood didn’t receive any payment from Epic for the free release — that revenue went directly to the game’s developer, Hyperstrange. Despite that, Oshry called it a win-win situation: “They got the $$$ bag for the free giveaway, [we] are putting that money into developing the new DLC and we got more Steam sales too.”
In related news, Epic Games Store’s user base has surged 173% to 295 million in six years, but revenue has barely grown — up just 1.6%. Despite free game giveaways boosting sign-ups, most users aren’t spending money on the platform.
