Epic Games Store Expands its Free Weekly Giveaways to its Mobile Store to Try to Hit 100m Installs

Epic Games has long framed itself as a disruptor in the gaming space. First, it launched the Epic Games Store to take the near-monopoly of Valve’s Steam launcher head-on. Many voiced their dislike of splitting their game library online, but from a market standpoint, it was a necessary infusion that allowed developers to get better deals and, for players, it came with a bunch of free games from a free account every month.

During this time, Epic Games also went head-to-head with the Apple and Google-owned mobile game stores, the Apple Store and Play Store, respectively. Looking to get around the hefty fees charged by the stores, Epic Games took them to court and, in some places, won. Now with its own EGS on mobile and seeking to up its presence there, it’s turned to the tried-and-trusted method of offering free games, but will it work here?

Proven Strategy of Offering Free Stuff to Mobile Players

The issue with mobile gaming is that the vast majority of the games are free to start and follow a freemium model. Naturally, Epic Games knows this as the owners of the one of the headline money-printing game apps, but even so, they’re seeking to promote more premium products on mobile devices. There’s certainly a precedence for this, but when it comes to premium, pay-to-play offerings, giving players free stuff tends to be the path to success.

This is most overtly showcased in the most premium form of gaming, the pay-as-you-play games found at the top casino app NJ players can find. Here, the app has over 500 slots, slingo, table, card, and live casino games, but alongside those, there are offers and promotions available for each player. These also come after the opening welcome offer that can be claimed upon downloading the app and signing up.

Of course, in the mobile video game space, as it were, one of Epic Games’ main combatants has tried to set the standard for premium gaming. The Apple Arcade is loaded with premium mobile games, with them all being accessible via a specific or bundle subscription. Still, they don’t give anything away for free. The mobile EGS aimed for 100 million in downloads by 2025 but was only on 30 million by January, so they’re offering weekly free games.

Growing Mobile Space There for the Taking

The mobile gaming market is vast and growing. Epic Games trying to become more appealing with its free game giveaways model through its premium store would usually make sense. However, with the standard for mobile video games being the free-to-play model, they’ll need to up the ante to become more appealing and to disrupt the status quo. It’s difficult to overcome the inherent accessibility and convenience of freemium gaming.

Still, with the space growing, there will be a growing audience that’s looking for a different way to play or a premium experience. In the mobile market UK players populate, for example, mobile games software grew in consumer spending by 8.1 per cent to £1.7 billion, per the 2025 report. Interest will only continue to rise with more outside options jumping in, such as with Netflix’s Squid Game app and Crunchyroll Game doubling down.

The EGS offering free weekly games is a way to appeal to traditional gamers on mobile, but it’d be easy to see why established mobile gamers would overlook the offer due to the ocean of free standalone games out there.