# Epic Games Store 37 Hacker News commenters recommended Epic Games Store and 155 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for lower developer fees (0% on the first $1m, then 12%) and a faster, lighter client than Steam. Most common caveat: no user reviews and a slow, bloated client. ## Why people recommend it - Lower developer fees than Steam (9 comments): "Epic Games has always offered lower fees and their CEO has been advocating for small developers for years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883043)) "Epic charges 12% (with the first $1m free) vs. Valve’s frankly extortionate (i.e. industry standard) 30%." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47509074)) "Epic's seems reasonable at 12% and only after the first million in revenue per year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49327273)) - Faster downloads and launch than Steam (3 comments): "the Epic Games Store downloads faster, installs more efficiently, and launches games faster than Steam" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47508553)) "It loads 10x faster, takes half the memory, every action is instant and it finally has a clear UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50158184)) "From my own testing the Epic launcher is still significantly faster than steam at launch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50107906)) - Free games every week (2 comments): "my epic library is so huge, because of the free games, i cant play all of them anyway" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46941688)) "They give out free games every week." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50090600)) - Works fine for many users (3 comments): "I never had issues with GOG or Epic (where I buy less to be honest)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851520)) "For all intents and purposes it's "functioning" for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850267)) "No issues with other stores." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47728145)) ## What people warn about - No user reviews or ratings (4 comments): "Game ratings/reviews and the "join a game" friend functionality are the only things that I would miss" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50112213)) "The major feature that EGS lacks and which makes it appealing to indies and repulsive to gamers is user reviews." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510176)) ""gamers dont matter" policy (no reviews, no community, worse services) and low fees and failed miserably" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425332)) - Slow, bloated client (4 comments): "Unfortunately just clicking on the "Featured Discounts" items on the store home page.. 3-4+ FULL seconds of blank until the game details load." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47508806)) "EGS is (or least was) really damn slow to start (never mind to launch an actual game). Linux support is non-existent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510709)) "Shit bloated code is one of the reasons Epic Launcher is extremely behind in market share when compared to Steam." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47599504)) - Poor Linux support (3 comments): "EGS is (or least was) really damn slow to start (never mind to launch an actual game). Linux support is non-existent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510709)) "it's not enough to make me want to stop avoiding Epic for future purchases on account of poor Linux support" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46822869)) "If Epic wasn't actively hostile toward Linux (to the point of calling Linux cancer) I could be persuaded" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510483)) - Distrust over exclusivity deals (2 comments): "I feel that I can't trust them as a marketplace." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48571658)) "burning hundreds of millions of dollars per year on exclusivity deals, which are extremely anti-consumer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47508510)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Steam](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steam.md): 716 recommend - [GOG](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gog.md): 250 recommend - [itch.io](https://hackerapproved.com/p/itch-io.md): 39 recommend - [Humble Bundle](https://hackerapproved.com/p/humble-bundle.md): 20 recommend - [PlayStation Store](https://hackerapproved.com/p/playstation-store.md): 6 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://store.epicgames.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Epic Games Store", https://hackerapproved.com/p/epic-games-store/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).