The Epic Games Store tends to get a bad rap these days, but things may be improving with its promise to give away free games in 2020.

• The Epic Games Store recently announced that free games will continue to be given out until year-end 2020.
• This is part of the companys long-term tactic to improve brand perception and get people into the storefront.
• It is not yet known how well this tactic will work on its own, although it seems to be having some sort of effect.

The Epic Games Store recently announced that theyll keep giving away free games until year-end 2020. The giveaway has now been going on for more than a year. Every few weeks, Epic Games gives away some free titles. This has included games such as Subnautica, Transistor, and Rebel Galaxy.
The campaign was started as a way of improving the storefronts bad PR. Many gamers out there still hate Epic with a passion, supposedly for their aggressive business tactics and acquisition of exclusive titles. The question is, has this strategy worked? More importantly, will it continue to work if they keep it up?
While there are still detractors, Epic seems to be much more positively received than they once were. | Source: Twitter
Epic Games Stores Free Game Extravaganza
At first, reception to the giveaway wasnt the most positive. There was even a Reddit thread that had to be shut down due to people getting agitated. Over time things do seem to have been improving, at least anecdotally.
Taking a quick glance through some of the discussion it seems more balanced than it used to be. Epic Games clearly has more defenders these days. Some people even commented that the free games were great. Sure, the detractors are still there. But, they do seem more civil and fewer in number.
Whether this is because of the free games or not is debatable. The internets anger does come with a time limit. Its certainly possible that people have just stopped caring, in which case free games will at least help to strengthen whatever good perception of the storefront there is.
The Free Games Are Great, but Features Are Better
The main thing people have against the Epic Games Store is the lack of features. Since it launched, it has been missing key things, such as a shopping cart. While some of those features have been added, there is still a fair bit missing. It is mostly surrounding this issue that people avoid the store.
There is a roadmap available on Trello for upcoming features. Unfortunately, it seems like their priorities are a bit off. The shopping cart is way back behind discovery queues and curated collections.. At least theyre being transparent about it I suppose.
The truth is, on their own free games wont do the job even if some of those games are great triple-a titles. But, the tactic clearly does have some beneficial impact on Epic Games Stores public perception. Combine that with finally adding some much-needed features, and Epic might be on top before long.
This article was edited by Gerelyn Terzo.