In its recently-released Year in Review post for 2020, Epic Games wasn't just limiting itself to looking back on its previous accomplishments. As well as the myriad statistics and informative tidbits about the previous year, the team also revealed what was on the cards for the Epic Games Store in the year to come.
According to the post, the main focus of development for the Epic Games Store in 2021 will be on providing a "smooth, seamless experience for developers" bringing their games to the store, as well as releasing more community-oriented features that "provide a more personalized experience." Examples of the latter can be found in the implementation of Wishlists and Achievements last year and indeed, one of the team's commitments for this year is to make improvements to both of those systems. Other planned improvements identified in the post are a "Social Overhaul" and changes to player profiles.
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The team also make note of the various improvements they've implemented to the service over the course of 2020, such as the release of mod support for some titles on the store, a self-service refund system, and general performance improvements for the launcher. Though Steam may still have an edge over Epic when it comes to game variety and community engagement, the Epic Games Store certainly seems to be nipping at its heels in many respects with these improvements under their belt and more on the way.
The official Epic Games Store Trello sheds more light on many of these proposed updates: the "Wishlist Improvements" entry, for example, informs readers of the intention to add a link to a player's Wishlist as one of the main navigation options on the storefront, while "Developer Publishing Tools" elaborates on the team's desire for a smooth, autonomous experience for developers going through the publishing process on the store. The Trello page also showcases some forthcoming updates that didn't make the cut for the Year in Review post, such as a re-commitment to the improvement of its Trending category on the storefront and offering support for more currencies in checkout.
Fans will no doubt be excited to hear about the upcoming improvements to the community side of the Epic Games Store. Steam has long had a leg up on Epic with its many options for community interactivity, with chat, groups, embedded streaming options, public wishlists, modding communities and more providing a rock-solid foundation to meet and connect with other players (for better or for worse). With even small steps being taken by Epic to plug those gaps, users are likely looking forward to service improvements over the course of 2021.
It's certainly been a good year for Epic, with over $700 million spent by PC players on the service and over 160 million total customers. The Epic Games Store team seem to be striving to strike the right balance between creating a fair and easy-to-use environment for developers, with their enhanced developer publishing tools and an appealing revenue split, and providing an appealing and convenient storefront for customers, with improved community features and a multitude of free games available for download. No doubt Epic is hoping 2021 will prove similarly favorable.
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Source: Epic Games