Getting into PC gaming comes with quite a few different things to learn about and understand. Besides how to actually setup your PC, there’s also the question of what a launcher is. Steam, Epic Games, Ubisoft Connect, and more–there are a TON of different PC gaming launchers out there. But the two most popular have to be Epic Games and Steam.
A lot of people prefer one over the other, but which one should you use? Or should you just download both anyways?
What is Steam?
Steam is a launcher and hub for tons of PC games as well as many PC exclusives like CS:GO. Steam was made by Valve Corporation and was released way back in 2003. It’s been a major front for PC gaming since its release. For the most part, you can’t hear about PC gaming without hearing about Steam.
Steam has a mobile app and can be used in the web browser or as an app on your PC. Through the PC application, you can buy games, manage your library, and launch games.
Steam has a big focus on the community aspect behind gaming. It encourages community forums, sharing screenshots and videos, posting reviews, and more. Players can chat with each other on Steam as well.
What is Epic Games?
Epic Games is a bit of a newer launcher and released back in 2018. Epic Games is known for Fortnite and it hosts mainly AAA games, but it does include several indie titles.
Epic Games is a bit less focused on the community aspect behind gaming. You can chat with friends and all that, but there’s less community features available.
There are also less games available on Epic Games. However, if you’re not somebody that plays many different types of games or a lot of indie games, Epic Games probably has more than enough titles for you to choose from.
Which Platform Has Better Games?
Like I mentioned earlier, Steam has a much wider selection of PC titles compared to Epic Games. You can buy practically any PC game on Steam and there are tons of games outside of the AAA sphere. However, games like Fortnite and any games made by Epic Games itself are not available through Steam.
In terms of offerings, Steam is clearly the better platform. With all the games available, if you’re not someone that cares much for Fortnite, Steam is clearly the superior platform.
The Community Features
Steam wins again in this aspect. Steam promotes the idea of building communities around games much more than other launchers, including Epic Games.
You can check out user reviews for each game and community forums to learn more. You basically don’t need to leave the Steam launcher if you want to learn a bit more about a prospective game you’re interested in buying.
Epic Games most aggregates reviews from major publications and through OpenCritic to show you if people enjoyed the game or not. If you don’t really like that, you’re not going to find much in terms of community reviews on Epic Games.
Free Games?
Sorry, Steam, Epic Games definitely wins this category. Epic Games is known for giving away free games weekly. During the holiday season, a new video game is given away every day on Epic Games.
You can snag AAA titles and indie titles alike for free. I’ve personally amassed a huge library of games through Epic because of this. Think of the hundreds you’re saving!
If you like getting lots of free AAA and indie games, you should definitely get Epic Games.
UI/UX
User interface and user experience is a big deal with applications. I will say that Epic Games has an easier interface than Steam, but they’re both fine.
Steam may take some time to navigate through, but once you use it a few times, you’ll get used to it and it won’t bother you much.
Steam hasn’t really changed its style much in all the years it’s been out, so it may feel outdated compared to Epic Games. However, I think it feels more authentic that way.
Final Verdict: Steam or Epic Games?
So, should you download Steam or Epic Games? I would have to say go for downloading both just because Epic Games gives away free stuff all the time. But if I had to pick only one, I would pick Steam over Epic Games.
Steam just has an advantage in that it’s got a much bigger library, it’s more well-known, and it’s more popular with PC players. It’s easier to manage your gaming library and you can even add non-Steam games to Steam so you can access the Steam overlay.
All-in-all, both platforms are fine if you use them together but Steam is a bit better in a few categories.
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