Every now and then, the Epic Games store gets a major discount on popular games. If you have been following the free game deals on the store, you may have seen that sometimes even the AAA-class of games get a free offer and you can purchase them without spending a dime. Today is one of those days where Epic Games store is offering the Control game for free. The offer expires on June 17th, when it again becomes paid offer. If you haven't heard of Control, you can read the the game information below. You can check out the deal here.

After a secretive agency in New York is invaded by an otherworldly threat, you become the new Director struggling to regain Control.
From developer Remedy Entertainment, this supernatural 3rd person action-adventure will challenge you to master the combination of supernatural abilities, modifiable loadouts and reactive environments while fighting through a deep and unpredictable world.
Control is Jesse Faden's story and her personal search for answers as she grows into the role of the Director. The world of Control has its own story, as do the allies Jesse meets along the way. Jesse works with other Bureau agents and discovers strange experiments and secrets.

Sony was in discussions with Epic Games to bring six of their first-party titles to PC as Epic Games Store exclusives and was offered a 200 million USD minimum guarantee contract in return. These talks did not succeed with Sony bringing their exclusive titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone to both Steam and the Epic Games Store. Epic Games did succeed in securing some smaller titles as exclusives for their store including Predator: Hunting Grounds and ReadySet Heroes. Epic was also in discussions with Microsoft to bring first-party titles to the store as exclusives and had wanted to engage with Nintendo for a similar offer.

The ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple dispute over Fortnite on the App Store platform has sprung up some surprising facts. Apparently, Epic has spent a massive $1 billion since September 2019, getting game studios to launch their titles exclusively on the Epic Games Store (EGS). It This sledgehammer fashion of taking market-share away from Steam rides almost entirely on investor money, and the firm's next $1 billion funding round is already underway. Epic aims to have as many as 52 exclusives on its storefront in 2021. The meteoric rise of EGS dates back to late 2018, when it gave away fairly new AAA games for free, a move that cost it $11 million, but generated a large number of new sign-ups to the platform. From here, the store rode on offering game studios a greater revenue share of games sold than Steam does, and additional incentives for exclusives.

It's not only graphics cards and CPUs that are best kept on the edge of manufacturing processes; in truth, one could even say that consoles have more to gain from these transitions when it comes to their manufacturers' financial outlooks. This happens because usually, consoles are subsidized by manufacturers in that their actual retail price is lower than manufacturing costs; this works as a way for console players to increase their platforms' attractiveness and user base, so they can then sell them games and subscription services, where the big bucks are actually made. We knew this already, but Microsoft's head of Xbox business development, Lori Wright confirmed it yesterday at the Apple vs Epic Games hearing. Lori Wright is quoted as answering "We don't; we sell the consoles at a loss" when asked whether Microsoft does or does not turn a profit on Xbox Series S | X hardware sales.

Considering the similarities between the Xbox Series X and PS5's SoC, it's very likely that Sony doesn't make a profit on console hardware sales either - or if it actually does, it's nothing actually meaningful. This is part of the reason why consoles are usually actually in the forefront of manufacturing processes' advancements, as it's a way for console players to quickly reduce the BoM (Bill of Materials) for their consoles. Since the specifications don't change within a console generation (discounting Pro models, which both companies have taken to launching some years into their generations), they choose to take advantage of process advancements due to the transistor density increases that allow for both lower silicon area for the SoC, and lower power consumption - which sometimes enables them to develop slim versions of their gaming consoles.

Today Epic Games announced that it completed a $1 billion round of funding, which will allow the company to support future growth opportunities. Epic's equity valuation is now $28.7 billion.

This round includes an additional $200M strategic investment from Sony Group Corporation, which builds on the already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces their shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services. Other investment partners include Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, GIC, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital. Epic continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and CEO Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder of the company.

Epic Games lost $181 million and $273 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019 and 2020 respectively according to a recent court filing and expect a loss of $139 million this year. The court filing reveals several interesting details about the Epic Games Store including that Epic doesn't anticipate that the store will turn a profit until 2023 and that the 12% distribution fee charged is sufficient to cover operating costs. Epic Games has spent $444 million on securing exclusive titles for the store in 2020 alone, in this same period players spent $700 million on the store of which $265 million was spent on third-party titles. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney defended this referring to it as a long-term investment into growing the business. The Epic Games Store currently has 160 million registered users with 56 million monthly active users and it seems like Epic has no plans to slow down.

Microsoft is reportedly in talks with Discord Inc. for an acquisitions that sees Redmond pay $10 billion, sources tell Bloomberg. Discord is a major chat and collaboration platform popular with gamers, e-sports athletes, PC enthusiasts, and the tech community at large. The platform currently has over 100 million monthly active users, and has grown in utility as a collaborative work and learning platform owing to its free service model, providing not just text, but also group video. Discord has, in the past, been in acquisition talks with Epic Games and Amazon, so it remains to be seen if the Microsoft offer goes through.Many thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip

Epic Games have recently announced the aquisition of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout developer Mediatonic for a undisclosed amount. Mediatonic have had a meteoric rise to fame with the release of their hit game Fall Guys in August 2020 with their team rising from 35 members to over 150. Mediatonic and Epic have confirmed that they will continue to support all platforms including Steam and reaffirmed plans to bring the game to Nintendo Switch and Xbox. The Mediatonic team also commented on bringing features from Fortnite and Rocket League to the game including account systems, cross-play, and squad vs squad modes.

Apple and Epic Games have had quite a turbulent history of legal issues in the past year. Fortnite, the world's biggest battle royale game, got removed from the Apple store because its developer, Epic Games, had refused to comply to store rules. If a developer is listing a game on the Apple store, all in-game payments must be processed through Apple, with the company taking a 30% tax cut for it. Epic Games didn't like that idea too much, so the company just used an external system that gave players the option to pay for in-game goods using different ways. However, that represented non-compliance to Apple store guidelines, and Apple took the Fortnite game down.


Update February 26th 07:50 UTC: In thecourt hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson ordered that Apple's subpoena was considered valid. Valve's lawyers urged the judge to not force the company to produce the requested data, however, Apple's lawyers have said that the request is doable and the company is only requesting data on a few hundred games, and it could have been worse by requesting data on over 30000 games instead.

A class action settlement with Epic Games, Inc. ("Epic") has received preliminary approval from the Superior Court of North Carolina, Tenth Judicial District. Under the settlement, all U.S. players of Fortnite: Save the World and Rocket League who bought a random item loot box in either game before Epic Games discontinued them will receive certain benefits immediately and automatically. The settlement also provides up to $26.5 million in cash and other benefits to U.S.-based Fortnite and Rocket League players to resolve claims arising from players' purchases of Fortnite and Rocket League in-game items.

Beginning today, Epic will deposit 1,000 V-Bucks, the Fortnite virtual currency, or 1,000 Rocket League Credits, into the accounts of U.S. players who bought a random item loot box. These deposits will be automatic and players do not need to do anything to claim them, though it may take a few days for all eligible players to receive them.

Additionally, players who believe they were harmed or damaged by virtue of their in-game Fortnite or Rocket League purchases and meet certain criteria can file a claim for a cash payment of up to $50 or a virtual currency deposit of up to 13,500 V-Bucks (in Fortnite) or 13,000 Credits (in Rocket League). Legal guardians of players who are minors that made in-game purchases without parental permission can seek partial refunds of up to $50, but must agree to the closure of their child's Epic Games accounts.

Epic Games today announced it has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the European Union (EU), expanding the company's fight to advance fairer digital platform practices for developers and consumers. The complaint, filed with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, alleges that through a series of carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions, Apple has not just harmed but completely eliminated competition in app distribution and payment processes. Apple uses its control of the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors and its conduct is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of EU competition law.

The complaint complements legal processes already underway in both the US and Australia, as well as Epic's recent filing before the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal. "What's at stake here is the very future of mobile platforms." Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said today. "Consumers have the right to install apps from sources of their choosing and developers have the right to compete in a fair marketplace. We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to control what should be a level digital playing field. It's bad for consumers, who are paying inflated prices due to the complete lack of competition among stores and in-app payment processing. And it's bad for developers, whose very livelihoods often hinge on Apple's complete discretion as to who to allow on the iOS platform, and on which terms."

The Epic Games Store saw its best year yet in 2020 growing to over 160 million users and up 192% to 31.3 million daily active players. The peak concurrent user record was broken reaching 13 million up from 9 million in 2019 while monthly active users grew from 32 million to 56 million. Users spent over 700 million USD on the store of which third party games accounted for 37% at 265 million. Playtime also increased 70% to 5.7 billion hours in 2020 compared to 3.35 billion in 2019.

Epic Games has also confirmed their intention to continue offering free weekly games throughout 2021. In 2020 the Epic Games Store gave away 103 different free games which were claimed over 749 million times. These games averaged a review score of 77% according to OpenCritic data and represented 2,407 USD value if taken at RRP. In 2021 Epic hopes to continue growing the store by introducing new tools that will help to bring more titles to the platform.

Epic Games have recently released the Spotify app onto the Epic Games Store, the app is now available to download and appears alongside your games. This is an interesting move from Epic Games as they capitalize on the reach of their storefront and launcher thanks in part due to Fortnite and the many free game giveaways. An Epic Games representative informed Destructoid that we can "expect more non-game applications" to hit the storefront in the future. With a userbase of over 350 million people, Epic Games is uniquely positioned to take on the Microsoft Store and become the go-to storefront.

Beginning December 15th, we're launching a new performance mode on all PCs that meet Fortnite's minimum specifications. Available in Alpha, Performance Mode will be selectable through the in-game settings menu and offers significant performance gains by trading out visual quality to lower memory usage and lighten the load on CPU and GPU. For players already on low scalability settings or less powerful hardware, this mode will allow the game to run better than ever before and maintain a smoother framerate.

Performance Mode is opt-in for most users and will launch with support for Battle Royale and Creative mode only. Users running on older hardware will see a prompt pushing them to the mode to try it out as the recommended way to experience the game. Performance Mode can be enabled or disabled at any time through the in-game settings menu and restarting the game.

Players familiar with Bloober Team's psychological horror who haven't played Layers of Fear 2 will be happy to know they can now grab this gut-wrenching game free of charge from the Epic Games Store. Bloober Team has cemented itself as one of the foremost games developers in the psychological horror genre ever since Layers of Fear (an interesting, albeit flawed, game), and have since brought their expertise to Layers of Fear 2 and the excellent Observer (which will see a System Redux version with new quests and ray tracing, among many other improvements). In Layers of Fear 2, you are cast as a Hollywood actor taking on the main role in a movie being shot on an ocean liner - but obviously, the terror starts after that. The game has a 70% Metacritic Review Average and a 6.3 User Average.

Another game available in the EPIC Games Store is Costume Quest 2, a Japanese-style action RPG where you're tasked with saving Halloween via time travel and other artifices. The game currently stands with a 68 Metacritic Review Average and a user score of 7.5.

AMD revealed its Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card reference design. This card will likely be AMD's flagship product based on its RDNA2 graphics architecture. The card features a refreshing new dual-slot, triple axial fan cooling solution that uses large new high-airflow fans that have webbed impellers, and an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that spans the entire length of this roughly-30 cm long card. A variation of the insert with the Radeon branding was teased last year. This is AMD's second reference design with triple axial fans, after the Radeon VII.

The card features two 8-pin PCIe power inputs right where you expect them. Display outputs include a pair of DisplayPorts, an HDMI, and a USB type-C. Since air exhaust is guided out of the top of the card with its fin-stack arrangement (and none from the rear I/O), AMD has a sealed I/O shield like the Radeon Fury. AMD partnered with Epic Games for a Fortnite treasure-hunt map that lets you see a 3D model of the card in from more angles. We'll spare you the treasure hunt with a video by Anshel Sag.The Fortnite video follows.

Epic Games and Apple are engaged in an ugly legal battle over Epic's decision to add an in-app payment system for "Fortnite," in violation of Apple's terms. All in-game micro-transactions are expected to be routed through the App Store. Apple essentially de-platformed Epic Games, and "Fortnite," which would have far-reaching implications including restrictions on third-party games using the Unreal Engine. On Monday, Epic Games got a partial and temporary relief against Apple's action, in the form of a temporary restraining order which prevents Apple from terminating the developer accounts of Epic Games, and restricting the use of Unreal Engine by game developers on Apple platforms.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers hearing the matter, however ruled that Apple isn't required to restore "Fortnite," which it banned after Epic Games added its in-game payments system that stepped on Apple's toes. Epic Games in its prayer to the Court argued that Apple's actions brought "irreparable harm" to the company. The Court disagreed. "The Court finds that with respect to Epic Games' motion as to its games, including Fortnite, Epic Games has not yet demonstrated irreparable harm. The current predicament appears of its own making." She argued that Epic Games "strategically chose to breach its agreements with Apple."

In the ongoing turf war between Epic Games and Apple, the game and engine development company has now signed a powerful ally to its side: Microsoft. In an announcement via Twitter, XBOX vice president Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had filed a statement in support of Epic's lawsuit against Apple - specifically, regarding the maintenance of Unreal Engine resources, tools, and developer credentials in the Apple store. This comes weeks after the battle royale between Apple and Epic begun, and after Epic started a social media and industry-wide call for support among consumers and corporations alike.

While the merits on Epic's initial move and subsequent lawsuit against Apple may be up for debate, and it's likely that any court of law will say that Epic clearly intended to breach contract terms they had already accepted when distributing Fortnite through the Apple Store, this second one has a much higher amount of O2 to breathe. Apple terminating the Unreal Engine affiliation with its store and development capabilities can potentially send a ripple effect throughout the entire games industry, whether in already-shipped games, currently in development ones, or future development intentions. That Microsoft themselves backed Epic on this particular issue goes to show just how wide a net this conflict is escalating towards.

Enter the Gungeon is a bullet hell roguelike video game developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for Windows, macOS, Linux, and PlayStation 4 in 2016 where it received critical acclaim and went on to release for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2017. The game retails for 14.99 USD on Steam at the time of writing. God's Trigger is a violent action game released by One More Level and published by Techland Publishing. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2018 to positive reviews. The two games are currently free to keep on the Epic Games Store for one week only.

The two games are now available to claim and will expire August 27th.

• Enter the Gungeon
• God's Trigger

The epic (ahem) battle between Epic Games and Apple is becoming increasingly nastier, as Apple has communicated to the game and game engine developers that it plans on terminating all of Epic developer accounts on its ecosystem (both on iOS or MacOS) by August 28th. If done, this would impede not only Epic from developing for these systems, but also would impact any and all companies that actually employ the Unreal Engine in their development process, be it final or merely as a toolbox. It's case to say that Apple has its finger firmly set on the big, red button.

This move from Apple comes in wake of the calculated feud initiated by Epic Games last week with both Google and Apple. What some may have failed to see is that the Epic Games move was a coordinated, well-thought-out one, in that the company knew - or thought they knew - the full ramifications of what they were setting in motion. Epic Games, with its newfound budget and clout, is looking to become a banner for developers, spearheading a charge that is looking to brunt the walled garden approach. In fact, the company is even looking to form a "coalition of Apple critics", and is looking for companies to join its bandwagon in fighting against the Apple walled-garden and middle-man approach to software distribution.

Today, Epic Games has decided to file a lawsuit against both Apple and Google after both companies removed Fortnite form their platform app stores (Google Play and Apple App Store). Firstly, Apple has decided to remove the Fortnite app to form its App Store because the game violated the company's policy that all in-game payments must go through the Apple App Store system, instead of them being processed directly. That means that Apple can also apply its 30% cut on all the payments made in-game. After Apple has revoked the Fortnite app, Epic Games has decided to file a lawsuit that aims to fight the company's monopoly and make the iOS platform more developer-friendly. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that Epic will not seek or accept any special deal that Apple may offer, but rather wants to fight for all developers.

Just hours after Apple decided to pull the Fortnite game from its App Store, Google has also removed the game from its Google Play Store. Google's Play Store policy about in-app payments says that all games must use Google Play in-app billing if they want to process payments, so Fortnite was pulled from it as well. In light of that move, Epic Games has also filed a lawsuit against Google on the same terms. The company wants to fight both Apple and Google in court and make them be more developer-friendly, especially Apple. We have to wait and see how the case progresses. Being that Apple is almost a $2 trillion company, it can surely afford lots of good lawyers, just as Google will. We want to express our support for Epic Games for going in the right direction, as we do need more open ecosystems.

Epic Games today announced a $1.78 billion round of funding consisting of primary capital and secondary purchases from employee equity holders. Epic's post-money equity valuation is now $17.3 billion.

This round includes a previously announced $250 million strategic investment from Sony Corporation. Additional investment partners include Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and David Tepper. Existing investors KKR and Smash Ventures also added to their 2018 investment. Following the closing of the funding round Epic will continue to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and will remain controlled by its founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney.

Today, on the official Twitter account of Fortnite game, Epic Games made an announcement that the game will receive an update on the 5th of August (tomorrow), that will bring some new features. Titled Joy Ride update, Epic Games promises that it will bring car support with it. In a tweet, the company says that "It's not just a name. It's a warning.", where it is referring to the Joy Ride update and the fact that it is going to change the gameplay dynamics of the game. So far, the only way to travel in-game on the ground was by foot, meaning that a car update will improve the speed of moving a lot. Let us know your thought on this update in the comments down below.

Psyonix the creators of Rocket League who are now owned by Epic Games has recently confirmed that their vehicular soccer video game will be going free-to-play on all platforms later this summer however, this move will remove the game from Steam for new players. Existing owners of the game on Steam will continue to receive updates and support, but going forwards all new players will have to install the game from the Epic Games Store.

The summer update will also bring a new cross-platform progression system that will require an Epic Games Store account to use, this will finally let users access their items, rankings, and rocket pass progression across all platforms. Current owners of the game will receive all the DLC released for the game when it goes free-to-play along with an "Est. 20XX" title which displays the year they purchased the game.

Today owning digital copies of games is a real struggle. There are are many platforms that offer games to be purchased, and some games are platform-specific. Take a look at Fortnite for example. It is only available on the Epic Games platform and launcher, so you have to download and sign-up to that if you wish to play the game. The PC platform is currently struggling with that problem as there is no unified store where you can purchase all of your digital copies of games. That is the main reason why Good Old Games, called GOG shortly, has decided to invite Epic Games and make a universal launcher for all storefronts.

The GOG Galaxy 2.0 is a new storefront that aims to give gamers the ability to "Install and launch any PC game you own, no matter the platform." With Epic Games joining the platform, it is a matter of time before others join. Some are still resistant, however. Steam and Origin are still not okay with that idea and they are keeping it to themselves. It is interesting to see the development of this, and in the meantime, you can check out GOG Galaxy 2.0 here.