So here's a wild one for you. Remember when everyone thought Epic's free game giveaways would totally crush Steam? Yeah, about that. Turns out giving your game away on Epic might actually be the best Steam marketing strategy nobody saw coming.
New Blood Interactive's head honcho just dropped this bombshell about their western horror shooter Blood West. The day Epic made it free? Steam sales jumped 200%. Not a typo. The game literally sold twice as much on Steam because people were getting it free somewhere else. Make that make sense, right?
But actually, it kinda does when you think about it. Epic puts your game in front of millions of eyeballs with their weekly freebies. Players grab it, some love it, then they tell their friends who maybe don't use Epic. Or maybe they want the Steam achievements. Or they just prefer having all their games in one library. Whatever the reason, that Epic freebie becomes a massive billboard pointing straight to Steam's checkout page.
This whole thing reminds me why the PC gaming ecosystem is so weird and wonderful. Two competing stores, and somehow they're accidentally helping each other out. New Blood's basically getting the best of both worlds here. Free marketing from Epic, actual sales from Steam. Honestly, more indie devs should probably be taking notes on this one.
The real question now? How many other developers are sitting on similar data but keeping quiet about it. Because if this becomes common knowledge, Epic might start rethinking their whole freebie strategy. Or maybe not. Who knows with these platform wars anymore.
Kai
Indie & narrative — cozy, pixel, roguelite, art-house