In December of 2018, Epic Games announced the Epic Games Store, stockpiling it with goodies and most importantly a free game every two weeks. Now Epic has committed to releasing a new free game every week through 2020.
The Epic Store is free to sign up, and many of the free games are for PC users. Once the games are added to the players' libraries, then they can keep them indefinitely. The introduction of the free games, which reached three free games in the first week of January, was the first big challenge towards Valve's PC monopoly. Some are saying that the release of so many free games is a way to overlook some of Epic Games' many controversies. Others are just enjoying the free content every week.
The free games are distributed every Thursday at 8 AM Pacific Standard Time and 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. Over the past year, Epic has released over free 73 games ranging from E-rated to M. The amount of games released typically depends on the ratings of each game released; for example, if a game has an M-rating usually a more kid-friendly game is also released. At the beginning of January Epic released Sundered: Eldrich Edition, a Metroidvania hack and slash style game with local co-op options. Since the game is rated E10+ there was no need to release additional games.
Epic also released a new RPG called For the King, a game in the style a tabletop like Dungeons & Dragons. The turn-based game has proven to be a very difficult game resulting in hours of fun gameplay. The game is rated T and was released alongside Darksiders, Darksiders 2, and Steep on January 9th of this year.
Epic's most popular game Fortnite appears to still be struggling with gamer retention even after several big events. The cultural juggernaut has done crossover events with Stranger Things, Star Wars, and John Wick. Recently Fortnite wrapped up their annual 12 Days of Fortnite event which typically boosts player numbers. However, last year Epic reported a near 25% drop in sales during a year that many Free-To-Play games were dominating the market. Whether or not this is a bad sign for the company is yet to be seen, but as of now, players can enjoy free games from the Epic Store throughout 2020.
Source: GameSpot