The ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple dispute over Fortnite on the App Store platform has sprung up some surprising facts. Apparently, Epic has spent a massive $1 billion since September 2019, getting game studios to launch their titles exclusively on the Epic Games Store (EGS). It This sledgehammer fashion of taking market-share away from Steam rides almost entirely on investor money, and the firm's next $1 billion funding round is already underway. Epic aims to have as many as 52 exclusives on its storefront in 2021. The meteoric rise of EGS dates back to late 2018, when it gave away fairly new AAA games for free, a move that cost it $11 million, but generated a large number of new sign-ups to the platform. From here, the store rode on offering game studios a greater revenue share of games sold than Steam does, and additional incentives for exclusives.

Today Epic Games announced that it completed a $1 billion round of funding, which will allow the company to support future growth opportunities. Epic's equity valuation is now $28.7 billion.

This round includes an additional $200M strategic investment from Sony Group Corporation, which builds on the already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces their shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services. Other investment partners include Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, GIC, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital. Epic continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and CEO Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder of the company.

Epic Games lost $181 million and $273 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019 and 2020 respectively according to a recent court filing and expect a loss of $139 million this year. The court filing reveals several interesting details about the Epic Games Store including that Epic doesn't anticipate that the store will turn a profit until 2023 and that the 12% distribution fee charged is sufficient to cover operating costs. Epic Games has spent $444 million on securing exclusive titles for the store in 2020 alone, in this same period players spent $700 million on the store of which $265 million was spent on third-party titles. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney defended this referring to it as a long-term investment into growing the business. The Epic Games Store currently has 160 million registered users with 56 million monthly active users and it seems like Epic has no plans to slow down.

Epic Games today announced it has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the European Union (EU), expanding the company's fight to advance fairer digital platform practices for developers and consumers. The complaint, filed with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, alleges that through a series of carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions, Apple has not just harmed but completely eliminated competition in app distribution and payment processes. Apple uses its control of the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors and its conduct is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of EU competition law.

The complaint complements legal processes already underway in both the US and Australia, as well as Epic's recent filing before the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal. "What's at stake here is the very future of mobile platforms." Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said today. "Consumers have the right to install apps from sources of their choosing and developers have the right to compete in a fair marketplace. We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to control what should be a level digital playing field. It's bad for consumers, who are paying inflated prices due to the complete lack of competition among stores and in-app payment processing. And it's bad for developers, whose very livelihoods often hinge on Apple's complete discretion as to who to allow on the iOS platform, and on which terms."

The Epic Games Store saw its best year yet in 2020 growing to over 160 million users and up 192% to 31.3 million daily active players. The peak concurrent user record was broken reaching 13 million up from 9 million in 2019 while monthly active users grew from 32 million to 56 million. Users spent over 700 million USD on the store of which third party games accounted for 37% at 265 million. Playtime also increased 70% to 5.7 billion hours in 2020 compared to 3.35 billion in 2019.

Epic Games has also confirmed their intention to continue offering free weekly games throughout 2021. In 2020 the Epic Games Store gave away 103 different free games which were claimed over 749 million times. These games averaged a review score of 77% according to OpenCritic data and represented 2,407 USD value if taken at RRP. In 2021 Epic hopes to continue growing the store by introducing new tools that will help to bring more titles to the platform.

Epic Games have recently released the Spotify app onto the Epic Games Store, the app is now available to download and appears alongside your games. This is an interesting move from Epic Games as they capitalize on the reach of their storefront and launcher thanks in part due to Fortnite and the many free game giveaways. An Epic Games representative informed Destructoid that we can "expect more non-game applications" to hit the storefront in the future. With a userbase of over 350 million people, Epic Games is uniquely positioned to take on the Microsoft Store and become the go-to storefront.

Players familiar with Bloober Team's psychological horror who haven't played Layers of Fear 2 will be happy to know they can now grab this gut-wrenching game free of charge from the Epic Games Store. Bloober Team has cemented itself as one of the foremost games developers in the psychological horror genre ever since Layers of Fear (an interesting, albeit flawed, game), and have since brought their expertise to Layers of Fear 2 and the excellent Observer (which will see a System Redux version with new quests and ray tracing, among many other improvements). In Layers of Fear 2, you are cast as a Hollywood actor taking on the main role in a movie being shot on an ocean liner - but obviously, the terror starts after that. The game has a 70% Metacritic Review Average and a 6.3 User Average.

Another game available in the EPIC Games Store is Costume Quest 2, a Japanese-style action RPG where you're tasked with saving Halloween via time travel and other artifices. The game currently stands with a 68 Metacritic Review Average and a user score of 7.5.

Crysis Remastered brings a major graphical overhaul to the original Crysis which was launched in 2007 and was known for its high system requirements. Crysis Remastered introduces new graphic features and high-quality textures along with API-agnostic ray tracing for PC. The game features updated textures with up to 8K resolution, Global Illumination (SVOGI), state-of-the-art depth of field, new light settings, and motion blur effects. The game is set to feature an 8K "Can it Run Crysis" mode which will challenge even the highest-end PC hardware.

Crysis Remastered is coming to PC via the Epic Games Store, PS4, and Xbox One on 18th September 2020. You can find the "Crysis Remastered - Official 8K Tech Trailer" in full 8K 60FPS down below.

IO Interactive revealed that Hitman 3, the next chapter in the stealth assassin sim, will be exclusively available on the Epic Games Store, for the PC platform. This marks a departure from over a decade of Hitman releases on Steam, including its most recent entry, the 2018 Hitman 2. Hitman 3, like the previous two titles since the franchise's 2016 reboot, will be a collection of locale-specific missions that are loosely interconnected by a storyline. With Hitman 3 transitioning to Epic Games Store, it will be interesting to see if the game retains the seamless campaign experience of Hitman 2, which let you play forward from Hitman 2016 missions, onward to new missions from Hitman 2. IOI Announced that Hitman 3 arrives in January 2021.Update 06:40 UTC: Turns out, that the EGS exclusivity is for 12 months only. Want the game on Steam? Wait until January 2022.

Enter the Gungeon is a bullet hell roguelike video game developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for Windows, macOS, Linux, and PlayStation 4 in 2016 where it received critical acclaim and went on to release for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2017. The game retails for 14.99 USD on Steam at the time of writing. God's Trigger is a violent action game released by One More Level and published by Techland Publishing. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2018 to positive reviews. The two games are currently free to keep on the Epic Games Store for one week only.

The two games are now available to claim and will expire August 27th.

• Enter the Gungeon
• God's Trigger

Total War Saga: Troy is the latest title from Creative Assembly which recently launched on the Epic Games Store and was free to keep for the first 24 hours. The game was claimed by over 7.5 million people in this initial 24 hour period with 1 million claims within the first hour alone. The giveaway exceeded the expectations of Creative Assembly who wanted to introduce their games to a wider audience. The giveaway was made possible through a partnership with Epic Games and means that the game will remain an Epic Games Store exclusive until August 13th, 2021 when it launches on Steam. If you missed the giveaway and want to purchase the game it is currently available for £35/$50.

Epic Games today announced a $1.78 billion round of funding consisting of primary capital and secondary purchases from employee equity holders. Epic's post-money equity valuation is now $17.3 billion.

This round includes a previously announced $250 million strategic investment from Sony Corporation. Additional investment partners include Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and David Tepper. Existing investors KKR and Smash Ventures also added to their 2018 investment. Following the closing of the funding round Epic will continue to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and will remain controlled by its founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney.

Psyonix the creators of Rocket League who are now owned by Epic Games has recently confirmed that their vehicular soccer video game will be going free-to-play on all platforms later this summer however, this move will remove the game from Steam for new players. Existing owners of the game on Steam will continue to receive updates and support, but going forwards all new players will have to install the game from the Epic Games Store.

The summer update will also bring a new cross-platform progression system that will require an Epic Games Store account to use, this will finally let users access their items, rankings, and rocket pass progression across all platforms. Current owners of the game will receive all the DLC released for the game when it goes free-to-play along with an "Est. 20XX" title which displays the year they purchased the game.

"Our country is like this grenade… you must clutch our people nice and tight or we all go boom." - Antón Castillo. Today during Ubisoft Forward, Ubisoft announced that Far Cry 6 is currently in development and will release February 18, 2021 on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Stadia and the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, as well as on UPLAY+, the Ubisoft subscription service.

With performances from renowned actor and Emmy Award Nominee Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul, The Boys, The Mandalorian) joined by Anthony Gonzalez (Coco), a score created by film and television composer Pedro Bromfman (Narcos), and an opening sequence directed by Emmy Award winner Patrick Clair (Westworld, True Detective), Far Cry 6 brings in Hollywood-calibre talent to bolster the narrative experience.

Today, during the Ubisoft Forward digital conference, Ubisoft announced that the next installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, will release worldwide November 17, 2020, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, as well as on UPLAY+, the Ubisoft subscription service and Stadia.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will also release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 upon the launch of the consoles. Players who purchase Assassin's Creed Valhalla on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade their game to the next-gen version (Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5) at no additional cost. Brand-new gameplay shown at the digital conference illustrates new features that players can enjoy, including dual-wielding, raiding, assaults and open world activities. Raids will be more action-packed and brutal than anything Assassin's Creed has seen before, with players able to take advantage of a new visceral combat system that lets players bash, dismember and decapitate foes. Eivor will be able to dual-wield axes, swords and even shields against the greatest variety of enemy types ever seen in an Assassin's Creed. Additionally, the return of the Hidden Blade allows Eivor to assassinate targets with deadly precision.

Havas Media the agency hired to manage the Epic Games Store recent game giveaway campaign "The Vault", which ran from May 14th through June 18th has revealed some new statistics on the success of the program. The Vault campaign focused on 21 key markets where several major titles were given away for free such as Grand Theft Auto V, Civilization VI, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, and Ark: Survival Evolved.

The campaign provided a major boost to the Epic Games Store setting many new user milestones, including average Peak Concurrent Users (PCCU) on PC of 13 million and Monthly Active Users (MAU) on PC of over 61 million. This brings the store much closer to Steam which had 95 million monthly active players in 2019 and has 14 million to 20 million peak concurrent players each day.

When Epic Games launched the Epic Games Store back in December 2018 most people wrote it off as a glorified Fortnite launcher which could never compete with Steam's reach and features. While the Epic Games Store is still lacking in features compared to Steam it has come a long way since it's launch slowly adding in new features.

The Epic Games Store surprised many when it offered Subnautica for completely free on the store and so began the tradition of the Epic Games Store's weekly game giveaways which have given away over 100 different games in the last 18 months. While pursuing this strategy of game giveaways to attract new users to the platform Epic Games also secured many exclusives for the launcher which wasn't nearly as well received.

Overcooked the chaotic couch co-op cooking game will replace Borderlands: The Handsome Collection as the weekly free game on the Epic Games Store. Overcooked launched in 2016 and was generally positively reviewed and considered to be one of the better co-op games released in recent years, the game has received a sequel Overcooked 2 in 2018 which offered a more polished and complete experience. This may come as a surprise to some as it was previously rumored that ARK: Survival Evolved would be this week's free game however, Epic seems unlikely to stop anytime soon so it will be interesting to see if ARK: Survival Evolved is offered some other time.

Get the game: here

In a recent interview with GameSpot, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney claimed that the free game giveaways run on the Epic Games Store such as Sid Meier's Civilization VI and Grand Theft Auto V can lead to increased sales of the games on other platforms. Tim Sweeney believes that because many of the games given away may not have been considered by most players leading to increased sales on alternate platforms according to some developers.

Tim Sweeney said, "You're not going to go out and buy—If you're not into games like Satisfactory, you're not going to go out and spend money to buy Satisfactory. But if you get it for free you realize it's an awesome game. People have discovered a lot of great games that way."

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is currently free to keep on the Epic Games Store until June 4th at 4 PM BST. This game is the third major game Epic has given away in the past few weeks after Grand Theft Auto V on May 14th and Sid Meier's Civilization VI on May 21st. The fourth and final rumored major game to be given away on the platform is Ark: Survival Evolved which should be available after June 4th.

Get the game: here

On a charm offensive with big game giveaways such as Grand Theft Auto V, and partial refunds for those who missed sales, Epic Games Store is now offering "Sid Meier's Civilization VI" for free. This is a great deal considering that the game is listed on Steam for $59.99 in the U.S. HotHardware reports that EGS has several other fairly new AAA titles lined up for the taking in the coming weeks. The store plans to give away "Borderlands: The Handsome Collection" from May 28, and "Ark Survival: Evolved" in the following week. "Civilization VI is the latest entry in the smash hit turn-based strategy franchise.

It seems that Epic Games has quietly rolled out a new automated partial refund feature to games purchased via its storefront which later had their price cut in a sale. Studio Mayday founder Joshua Boggs shared an automated email he received from the Epic Games Store on Twitter, which stated that he would receive a partial refund for the difference in the game's price he recently purchased which shortly afterwards went on sale. This is the first we've heard of such a system and Epic Games may well be keeping the update quite to prevent abuse of the system.

Epic Games Store emailYou recently placed orders from the Epic Games Store. The price of the game(s) you purchased were recently lowered, so we are issuing partial refunds for the difference(s).

2K and its Hangar 13 development studio today announced Mafia: Trilogy, a new collection featuring the only interactive entertainment series that lets players live the life of a gangster across three distinct eras of organized crime in America. Combined, the critically acclaimed Mafia crime dramas have sold-in more than 18 million units worldwide. Now, for the first time on modern consoles, experience all three entries of the revered action-adventure series together in one definitive organized crime saga.

Players who purchase Mafia: Trilogy digitally prior to August 28 will be able to access Mafia II: Definitive Edition and Mafia III: Definitive Edition immediately on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam, and will be able to download Mafia: Definitive Edition as soon as it becomes available on August 28. The Mafia: Trilogy physical edition will release in full on August 28, and is currently only planned for release in select EMEA and Asia regions. (For full release details, please refer to the Mafia: Trilogy fact sheet.)

We've recently enabled the ability to self-refund qualifying purchases online by yourself. When you sign into your account on the Epic Games website, click the "Account" dropdown in the top right corner of the webpage, go to the "Transactions" tab and click the game title. If the game is eligible for a self-service refund, please click the "Refund" option to initiate the refund process.

All games are eligible for a refund within 14 days of purchase for any reason. However, you must not have played more than 2 hours.You will not be eligible for games from which you have been banned or for which you have otherwise violated the terms of service. In addition, you may not be eligible for refunds if Epic determines that you are abusing the refund policy.

Epic Games has just done something that's sure to garner a lot of attention: they're offering free copies of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V. Yes, you can stop reading now and go on and grab it; you know you want to, even if you've played it on console already. The game is the latest entry in one of the most legendary franchises in gaming, and as it stands, counts with a 96 Metascore and a 7.8 user score. Even though the game has been released over five years ago, it's still one of the greatest, featuring a live community on its online components.