Criticism from users has been drawn to Epic Games and those developers and publishers opting for exclusivity deals, asserting that these are segmenting the market.

After paying for content delivery and other services, Epic's profit is about 5% of gross revenue, though, with economies of scale, this could increase to 6–7%.

[11] Certain free game offerings had been highly popular; in its giveaway for Grand Theft Auto V in May 2020, more than seven millions new users claimed the giveaway in addition to existing ones, and temporarily crashed Epic's servers,[12][13] and later, over 19 million users obtained a free copy of Star Wars Battlefront II offered in January 2021, with the new influx of players crashing the game's servers briefly.

The storefront will include a ticket-based support system for users to report bugs and technical problems for games to developers, while developers will be encouraged to link to external forums and social channels of their choosing, like Reddit and Discord, in lieu of storefront-tied forums.

[24] Cloud saving was introduced on a very limited, game-by-game basis in July 2019, though Epic plans to expand this out after validating the feature.

[26] Where possible, Epic plans to extend its "Support a Creator" program that it had launched in Fortnite Battle Royale to other games offered on the store.

Supported streamers then receive revenue from Epic Games on microtransactions made through the Epic Games Store from the players that supported them, incentivizing these content creators; within Fortnite, creators had received about 5% of the cash value of the microtransactions.

[31] Epic also said that it would not impose digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on games sold through its platform.

He ran the site as a side-project but used it to learn what developers would want from Epic's store, namely fewer social elements and less visual clutter.

[1][37] Epic's staff will still need to approve games for the store, a process that "mostly focus[es] on the technical side of things and general quality", according to Tim Sweeney.

Chris Early, Ubisoft's vice president for partnerships and revenue, described Steam as "unrealistic, the current business model that they have...It doesn't reflect where the world is today in terms of game distribution.

"[40] Publisher Deep Silver followed suit later that month, announcing that Metro Exodus will be exclusive to Epic Games Store for one year, at a reduced US$50 (in North America[41]) compared to US$60 when it was offered on other storefronts.

[42][43] Epic has subsequently made partnerships with Private Division and Quantic Dream for publishing on the store.

These accounts have access to certain free games on the store, including Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League with limited gameplay features to provide a safe environment for children.

[50] A First Run Program, offering developers to waive Epic's revenue share during 6 months store exclusivity, was announced on August 23, 2023.

[51] Additionally, a Now on Epic program, offering developers the same conditions for previously released games, was announced on October 16, 2023.

[57] As such, when the Epic Games Store was announced, several journalists saw it as potentially disruptive to Steam's current model.

[65] Sweeney stated that this strategy was the only way to challenge Steam's dominant position,[66] and would stop seeking exclusivity should Valve reduce its 30% revenue share.

[69] Metro Exodus, by developers 4A Games and published by Deep Silver, had been planned as a Steam release.

Gollop explained that with the exclusivity deal, his team received additional financial support to finish up Phoenix Point.

Gollop asserted that the deal with Epic Games did not alter Phoenix Point's ultimate direction, but did offer full refunds to backers if they wanted.

[73] In the announcement by Glumberland's Ben Wasser, he included what he felt had been joking language related to criticisms of Epic Games Store exclusivity, calling those who complained "immature, toxic gamers", but that the situation was "nothing to get worked up about".

[74] In the wake of this, Wasser and others at Glumberland began to receive thousands of hostile negative messages related to the announcement, including threats.

Sweeney spoke later that the campaign against Ooblets represents a growing trend in the community based on "the coordinated and deliberate creation and promotion of false information, including fake screenshots, videos, and technical analysis, accompanied by harassment of partners, promotion of hateful themes, and intimidation of those with opposing views.

"[74] Sweeney said that Epic is working with its partners and developers to try to improve the situation and support those targeted in such manners.