Steam vs Epic Games Store vs itch.io — Best Game Storefront

Three game storefronts with different philosophies. Steam dominates by volume, Epic competes on exclusives and revenue splits, itch.io is the indie heart.

Steam

Pros

  • 100,000+ game library
  • Best community features (reviews, forums, workshop)
  • Cloud saves, controller support, family sharing
  • Big sales (4 per year)
  • Refunds within 14 days for under 2 hours played

Cons

  • 30% revenue cut for developers
  • Discovery problem (hard to find new games)
  • DRM-bound to Steam client

Verdict: Best for buyers — biggest catalog, best features, best refund policy. The default choice.

Epic Games Store

Pros

  • 88/12 revenue split (better for devs)
  • Free game every Thursday (very valuable)
  • Mega Sale (often best discounts of the year)
  • Pre-launch exclusives (some major releases launch here first)

Cons

  • Smaller game library
  • Worse community features
  • Slower client
  • Periodic controversy over timed exclusives

Verdict: Best for free-game collectors and people targeting specific Epic exclusives. Secondary storefront for most.

itch.io

Pros

  • 90/10 revenue split (best for indie devs)
  • Truly indie games (jams, experimental, weird)
  • No DRM by default
  • Free hosting tier for tiny games
  • Web-playable games

Cons

  • Smaller catalog of major releases
  • Discovery is purely curation/recommendation
  • Less polished UI than Steam

Verdict: Best for finding hidden indie gems and supporting solo developers. The heart of indie game culture.

Frequently asked

Is Steam still the best place to buy games?

Yes for nearly everyone. Steam's library size, features, and refund policy combined are unbeatable. Get free games from Epic Games Store. Buy weird indies from itch.io.

Why do some games launch on Epic before Steam?

Epic pays developers for timed exclusivity (typically 6-12 months) to attract users to its store. Examples: Borderlands 3, Civilization VI Anthology, Hitman, Outer Wilds. They eventually arrive on Steam.

Are there other PC storefronts worth using?

GOG (DRM-free, classic games, owned by CD Projekt). Microsoft Store + Xbox PC Game Pass. EA App. Battle.net (Blizzard games). For 95% of PC gamers, Steam + Epic + itch.io covers everything.