Starting today, the Epic Games Store has a rewards program called, predictably, “Epic Rewards.” No sign-up is required to participate: Two weeks after you make an eligible purchase on the Epic Games Store, you’ll receive 5% back in the form of  “Rewards” which can be spent on future EGS purchases.

5% of a $60 game is $3, which is nothing to sneeze at, unless you’re currently experiencing seasonal allergies like I am. I sneezed at it twice. 

As with all of these things, terms and conditions apply. One of those conditions is that Rewards eventually expire, but they’ve got a long shelf life: two years after you receive them. (25 months to be exact.)

It’s nice that we’re not under immediate pressure to spend or lose these Epic Rewards—Epic could’ve gone about this effort to encourage repeat business in a stingier way. The rewards program adds another prong to Epic’s aggressive customer acquisition strategy, which also includes timed Epic Games Store exclusivity deals and weekly free games.

Steam also has a sort of rewards program, but it doesn’t provide discounts. Instead, Steam Points can be spent on profile backgrounds and emoticons or to compliment other Steam users by giving them awards.

Epic’s also been edging in on those big sales Steam is so well known for. Along with this rewards program, it just kicked off 2023’s Epic Games Store Mega Sale. Along with discounts on individual games, Epic is bringing back the renewable 25% coupon for this sale—every time you use it on a purchase of $15 or more during the sale, you get a new one. 

You can also earn the new Epic Rewards during the sale, but also after the sale: that’s a permanent addition, unlike the coupon, which is bound to the sale.

Buying games sure has gotten complicated, but I prefer this kind of complicated—the kind that results in us saving money—to the other kind of complicated, where games for some reason need 10 distinct, differently-priced editions. 

Meanwhile, on Steam, Valve just introduced a new free trial system, and sports games are currently on sale in the Steam Sports Fest.