114 PCWorld JANUARY 2020FEATURE EPIC GAMES STORE’S FIGHT AGAINST STEAM
now take for granted on all platforms. EA was
early to Netflix-style subscription services too,
first with EA Access on Xbox and then Origin
Access on PC.
EA’s Switzerland status is over though. In
late October, EA announced it would be
returning to Steam—first with a day-and-date
release of Jedi: Fallen Order (go.pcworld.com/
jdfl), and then with Apex Legends, The Sims 4,
Battlefield V, and other legacy titles. Perhaps
even more important for the future, EA will also
bring its Origin Access subscription to Steam,
a first for Valve’s platform.
Would the wall have come down without
Epic’s entry into the fray? Maybe, but it still
seems like the launch of the Epic Games Store
helped hurry things along. In 2019, Valve
finally needed EA as much as EA needed
Valve—and Epic’s improved revenue split
gave EA some leverage.
Steam’s improved in more fundamental
ways as well. The oft-rumored Library refreshfinally came to fruition in September, the first
major update to that interface in, like, fifteen
years. And it’s a huge improvement, surfacing
important updates and making it infinitely
easier to sort large collections.
Valve’s also tweaked the store’s Discovery
algorithm multiple times, dabbled in more
experimental features with Steam Labs (go.
pcworld.com/stla; including a more granular
Search), released Dota Underlords, launched the
Index VR headset and controllers (go.pcworld.
com/invr), and announced a Half-Life game for
2020 (go.pcworld.com/hl20). Yes, Half-Life.
Oh, and the recent Steam Autumn Sale
was the best in years (go.pcworld.com/bsty),
bringing steep discounts on newly released
games like Gears 5 and Hitman 2 (go.
pcworld.com/hmn2).
Again, much of this was in development
before the Epic Games Store launched. It
would’ve happened eventually, some of it this
year even. Still, it’s hard not to feel like Epic
helped hurry Valve
along, that having
competition helped
counter the notorious
effects of “Valve
Time” and get some
projects finished and
shipped for once.
Valve finished 2018
under siege. It
finishes 2019 on its
own terms.