I love the idea of getting older AAA titles for free, but hate the idea of installing the Epic Games Launcher on my computer. Where do you guys stand on this?
It also makes me sad that Epig Games has fallen so far. I grew up on Unreal Tournament and now I don’t want them anywhere near my computer.
I got pretty much the same opinion as you, probably a bit angrier about all the shit they did, with Unreal Tournament, their store and spyware and exclusives, and their unoptimized bloated game engine taking over the industry.
So no, I guess I don’t claim those games or have an account. I already have a million games I’ll never finish playing on Steam and emulators anyway.
But what’s a million more?
I’ve claimed most of the free games, but only played a few, and I’ve certainly repurchased some that I have claimed on EGS. I’ve never installed their client (I play through Heroic) and never purchased anything. It takes about 30s to claim on my phone, so I claim on the toilet each Thursday.
I like to think I’m costing EGS more money than by not doing this.
If it’s free, it doesn’t hurt to grab it.
But in general, I don’t like to play through Epic anymore. The Expanse Telltale game was the last straw for me. It was an Epic exclusive for a bit. I mostly play through Steam link on different devices, and adding the Expanse as a non-Steam game would only let you play the first chapter. Nah, I’m out.
…really? Are you sure you didn’t just only get the first episode for free? Some of those kinds of story games were released like that. That seems above and beyond Epic’s usual shit.
The license is tied to playing it through the Epic store. Tried it both ways. Plays all the episodes fine playing through Epic. Only lets you play the first episode as a non-Steam game startup, even using the epic launcher as the executable.
But I play mostly on Steam link, so that doesn’t work for me. Luckily it finally came out in Steam. But that’s my last purchase from them.
Like other commenters I take advantage of them but only if I can do so on my terms: on Linux or the Steam Deck using Heroic or a similar solution. There is absolutely no way I’d use Windows or the Epic launcher for this.
And since these methods are not officially supported and could break in the future I can’t spend money at the Epic store. I only leech on the free stuff while it’s practical to do so.
Exactly.
If EGS pulled a 180 and officially supported Linux, maybe I’d change my position, but for now I’ll play whatever works on Linux through Heroic and leave it at that.
Heroic launcher. This is what you need, my friend.
I wonder if Epic and Gog would generate a ground-swell of support if they simultaneously announced official support for Heroic. Or even official cross-launcher support though I think Heroic would be a better long term bet.
GOG sort of has, the developer gets a cut of purchases made through Heroic. That’s almost enough for me to start buying from them, but I’d really like a blog post with official support, and perhaps a grant from GOG.
If that happens, I’ll buy a bunch of GOG games. Until then, I’ll buy from Steam.
No tux, no bux. If you support tux, you get bux. It’s simple.
I claim whatever I can, and that still doesn’t force me to play it or install their launcher to claim them.
I love it. I don’t find it a big deal to have installed their launcher. I run it to redeem or play a game, and kill the process (not just close the window) when I’m done.
I claim the free stuff. I don’t really understand all the hate they get. It’s just another digital software storefront for gaming. It seems to do its job. Click a button, download the game, play the game. I have no reason to be mad at them.
For me, its their utter disdain for Linux, my primary gaming platform. Their client doesn’t support Linux, games that have Linux builds on Steam or GOG don’t on EGS, they refuse to make Fortnite compatible with Proton (Windows compatibility layer) despite saying how easy it is to support Linux with their anticheat, and public statements by the CEO about how they hate Linux.
I also don’t like the exclusivity agreements, even if the initial exclusivity window doesn’t affect me. I bought Rocket League on Steam, and now I can’t play it there anymore (online at least) because they made it EGS exclusive. I could’ve asked for a refund, but I got my value from it and got it in a bundle anyway (was technically “free” with purchase of the Steam controller/Link), but it still rubbed me the wrong way.
Steam actively supports my platform, and GOG makes Linux builds available (and even provides Linux-native packages for old DOS games). Why would I give EGS any of my money? I’ll claim their free games and play on Heroic as long as that works, but I’m not going any further than that.
Free games are good. Have been using Heroic launcher in Linux. Free or not, I’m still waiting for the time to be right.
I have never installed Epic Games Launcher and still claim and play their games for free. It’s pretty easy:
- claim games on epicgames.com (I use my phone)
- install Heroic and login to your epic games account
- play your claimed games
I play on my Steam Deck and on my Linux desktop, and EGS isn’t supported on either. Seems to work fine.
Also works for prime games. And if you are on Linux especially GOG as well.
You can claim directly from Heroic btw, just go to “Stores”
I usually claim Thursday mornings at work so I don’t forget, and it takes like 30s. But it’s pretty cool that it works in Heroic as well.
I’m still on Windows for now, so I use a PortableApps installation to claim the games instead of a phone. I do the same for my wife and kid too. Neither of them has the Epic installer 🤷🏻♂️😁
Hell yeah! I did not know this was an option. Thanks for the tip!
Same, I grew up on Unreal and Epic sucks now so I don’t install their shit. They really shit on Linux while Valve has invested big time, so I don’t install epic game store. I don’t have a windows install anymore.
Free is free. If they’re making a bunch of money off ten year-olds and their moms, I’ll take their giveaways. If I get something free from Epic and I really like it, I’ll buy it on gog too.
Same, but on GOG or Steam.
I have never paid a dime on EGS, nor do I plan to. I have purchased games I got for free from EGS on other stores, so there’s that.
I always get them but expect them to disappear.
I have claimed most of the games and some have been real gems. I’ve bought a few games too because they were the cheapest option.
Personally I don’t have a problem with the Epic launcher as it’s just a launcher which is fine by me. I use GOG Galaxy anyway and I’m not a fan of Steam either so don’t care about that aspect.
I claim everything since free is free. But I don’t have the launcher installed, since I have a lot of other games to play so haven’t gotten around to it.
Not worth bothering with for me.
