Bringing Trust to the Epic Games Store
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 10
A redesign inspired by a habit I didn't even realize I had.
"The launcher sucks. Let's call it what it is. It's really slow… We have a lot of things we need to fix. We have needed to fix them for years." — Steven Allison, VP & GM, Epic Games Store · Eurogamer, February 2026
TL;DR
Epic gives me plenty of reasons to be excited about a game.
Steam gives me plenty of reasons to trust buying it.
This project explores what Epic's game pages might look like if they offered the same level of player-driven information while staying true to Epic's visual style.
Link to the full design on figma: https://www.figma.com/proto/CdoARxKXh5VXDvXc6UjtL2/Epic-games-screens?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=1-2&viewport=-1206%2C175%2C0.34&t=SuQY4fOh8CsqbiGZ-1&scaling=min-zoom&content-scaling=fixed
The Observation
I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember.
And like most PC gamers, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time browsing game stores without actually buying anything.
One thing I noticed was that whenever I found a game that looked interesting, I always followed the same pattern.
I would watch the trailer.
Look through the screenshots.
Read the description.
And then immediately scroll to the reviews.
Every single time.
At first, I thought I was looking for opinions.
But the more I paid attention, the more I realized I was looking for answers.
Questions like:
Is the game actually good?
Is the multiplayer still active?
Does it run well?
Does it respect my time?
Is the trailer overselling it?
The strange thing was that I trusted Steam to answer those questions far more than I trusted Epic.
That became the starting point for this project.
The Problem
Epic's game pages do a great job showcasing a game.
Steam's game pages do a great job helping me decide whether I should buy it.
Those are two very different things.
When I looked at Epic's game pages, I noticed that most of the information came directly from the publisher:
Trailers
Screenshots
Descriptions
Feature Lists
All useful.
But when I'm about to spend money on a game, I don't just want information from the people selling it.
I also want information from the people who already bought it.
Right now, that layer of trust feels much stronger on Steam than it does on Epic.
Research
Before jumping into solutions, I wanted to make sure this wasn't just a personal preference.
So I spoke with four friends who regularly buy games on PC.
These weren't formal interviews.
This was basically a group of gamers talking about how they decide whether a game is worth buying.
Friend 1
The first thing he checks on any store page is reviews.
"If people who actually played it hate it, I want to know before I spend money."
Friend 2
Mostly plays multiplayer games.
For him, reviews are the fastest way to figure out whether a game's community is still active.
"Marketing never tells you when a game is dead." (Yes this is true. I have seen studios pumping life into their online games that are barely being played.)
Friend 3
Uses reviews almost entirely for performance information.
"I don't care how good the game is if it runs terribly."
Friend 4
Had the simplest buying process of everyone.
He checks:
Review score
One positive review
One negative review
Then decides.
Just enough information to feel confident. And if he feels unsatisfied, Steam always has an option to return a game within 14 days of purchase and 2 hours of playtime.
Looking Beyond My Interviews
I also spent time reading discussions across gaming communities.
Whether people were talking about new releases, disappointing launches, hidden gems, or games that were finally fixed after a rough launch, one pattern kept showing up:
People constantly referenced reviews.
Players trusted information from other players.
Key Insight
After all of this, one thing became very clear:
People don't read reviews because they enjoy reading reviews.
People read reviews because they want confidence.
Exploring Solutions
My first instinct was to design a completely new review system.
Something unique. Something that Steam didn't have.
The problem was that the more I studied Steam's review system, the more I realized it already solved many of the problems I was trying to solve.
Steam reviews provide:
Sentiment
Playtime
Community feedback
Review filtering
Helpful reviews
User context
Trying to replace all of that would have been solving the wrong problem.
So I changed direction.
Design Goal
Instead of asking:
How do I create a better review system than Steam?
I started asking:
How might Epic provide the same level of trust and transparency while remaining visually consistent with the rest of the Epic Games Store?
That question ultimately shaped the entire project.
The Solution
The redesigned game page introduces a review ecosystem inspired by what already works.
Review Summary
Players can quickly see:
Recent Reviews
Overall Reviews
Total Review Count
Without needing to dig through hundreds of individual reviews.
Review Filters
Just like Steam, players can filter reviews by:
Playtime
Date Range
Different players care about different things.
The filtering system helps them find the information they're actually looking for.
Reviewer Context
Each review includes additional information such as:
Hours Played
Review Date
Hardware Specifications
A performance complaint means something very different coming from a player with an older GPU than it does coming from someone with high-end hardware.
Adding context makes reviews more useful.
What Players Are Saying
Before diving into individual reviews, players get a quick overview of recurring themes.
For example:
Players Love
Excellent Gunplay
Large Scale Battles
Strong Audio Design
Things To Know
Better With Friends
Steep Learning Curve
Large Download Size
Think of it as a review section trailer.
A quick summary before the full experience.
Hardware Readiness
One thing that always bothered me about system requirements is that they're surprisingly difficult to understand.
You'll often see a GPU recommendation and somehow be expected to know whether your hardware is better or worse.
The redesigned Hardware Readiness section translates technical requirements into expected performance.
Instead of:
RTX 3070 Recommended
Players get something closer to:
1440p High Settings > Good Experience
Less guessing, more clarity.
Reflection
I started this project thinking it was about reviews.
The more I looked at Steam's game pages, the more I realized that their biggest advantage isn't the review system itself.
It's the confidence that system gives players before they spend money.
This redesign doesn't try to reinvent reviews.
Instead, it focuses on bringing that same level of trust and transparency into Epic's ecosystem while staying true to Epic's visual style.
Because at the end of the day, nobody enjoys spending money on a game only to discover that the reviews knew something the store page didn't.
And as someone who genuinely loves games, that's a problem worth solving.
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