116 PCWorld JANUARY 2020FEATURE EPIC GAMES STORE’S FIGHT AGAINST STEAM
only showed it off for the first time in October
(go.pcworld.com/octu) and it’s yet to
officially launch. Achievements still feel as
distant a dream as they did last December, as
does the ambiguous “Mod Support.” There’s
no gifting, nor a shopping cart for people
who want to make multiple purchases.
Looking back on that initial road map, it now
seems absurdly optimistic. And yet it’s also hard
not to feel like the store should be further along
at its first anniversary. Epic’s switched to a
simpler “Recently Shipped / Up Next / Future
Development” system for its upcoming features,
but that can only stave off the questions for so
long. Where are achievements? Why is it taking
so long to add a shopping cart?
Even for people who don’t mind the Epic
Games Store, like myself, the continuedabsence of such basic features looks a lot
more conspicuous going into year two.BOTTOM LINE
Still, it’s been an exciting year. A controversial
year at times, but an exciting one. Epic’s built a
solid foundation for the future, and given a lot of
developers a lot of money in the process. If we
ever get a Control 2 or another Metro game,
chances are Epic’s Fortnite cash had something
to do with it. Meanwhile EA’s back on Steam,
Microsoft’s back on Steam, and Valve’s more
energized and active than I’ve seen in years.
And you at home? You got 56 free games.
That’s reason enough to enjoy competition.
Here’s hoping Epic and Valve push each other
to new heights in 2020, because it’s to every
PC gamer’s benefit in the long run.