They're doing everything they can to compete with Steam. It's not a level playing field, how else do you propose they compete with a storefront which has a stranglehold on the PC marketplace?
Let's look at everything Steam currently offers:
* Client
* Storefront
* Wishlists
* Shopping cart
* Store Page customization including videos & player streams.
* Friends
* Groups
* Steam Voice
* Profile Pages you can customize
* Marketplace to sell items
* Steam Cards
* Steam Input for GOAT controller support even in games that don't natively support controllers and can aid the handicapped with sharable controller setups.
* Valve Anti Cheat for developers
* Steam Matchmaking with NAT punchthrough for developers
* Reviews on the store page to aid consumers
* Great refund policy
* Forums for every game
* Gift Cards (that Valve takes a loss on)
* Gifting in general
* Steam Wallet
* 80+ different payment methods that Valve eats the high transaction fees for rather than passing it onto the consumer
* Regional pricing in 35+ currencies
* Optional Steam DRM
* Steam Keys so that developers/publishers can sell their games on other storefronts without Valve taking a cut and give the consumer pricing options
* Steamworks to push updates whenever developers/publishers want on their own
* Community hubs
* Store announcements
* Steam Curators
* Steam Overlay
* Steam Screenshots
* Steam Guides
* Steam Streaming
* Steam Cloud
* Steam Achievements
* Steam Game Stats
* Steam Leaderboards
* OpenID support
* DDoS protection for developers
* Steam Guard
* Steam Mobile Auth
* Steam Mobile Chat App
* Steam Workshop
* SteamVR
* Preloading
* Offline Mode
* Full DLC support
* Price adjusting bundles
* Steam Proton which has turned Linux into a viable gaming platform
Here's the things Steam is currently working on:
* Redesigned client
* VACnet, a machine learning anti cheat.
OK now let's compare, here's what Epic currently offers:
* Client
* Storefront
* Friends
* Refund policy
* 47 payment methods that they pass the transaction fees onto the consumer rather than paying themselves.
* Regional pricing in 9 currencies.
* Preloading
* Offline Mode
* Bought exclusive games.
Here's what Epic is working on:
(1-3 months from now)
* DLC support
* Cloud saves
* DLC addon purchase checks
* Videos on the store pages
* Search by genre/tag in the store
* Store Page Redesign
* Track playtime
* Humble Bundle integration
(4-6 months from now)
* User Reviews that companies opt into allowing
* Wishlists
* Newsfeed
* Price Adjusting Bundles
* Additional payment methods
* Additional currencies
* Mod support for games
(6+ months from now)
* Achievements
* A goddamn shopping cart, the most basic store feature of all time
* Social Overhaul
(Date TBD)
* Automatic refunding
* Gifting
* Android Store App
(On-going)
* Buying more exclusives.
So assuming they complete everything on their Trello on time (which is a big ask because they've already not done that a ton), in 6+ months from now Epic will still be extremely far behind Steam on feature support at even a basic level.
It is disingenuous to say that Epic is "doing everything they can" to compete with Steam. Steam is the best because of it's features, stuff like Steam Input is necessary for handicapped people to have an optimal experience they might not otherwise be able to get, Steam Proton is necessary to open up a gaming library on Linux, etc etc.
To answer your question, Epic should compete by actually focusing on their client and thinking of how to provide value to consumers beyond exclusive games. Right now the client feels like an afterthought when it is missing so many basic things, I legit can't think of any digital store off the top of my head that doesn't have a shopping cart man. It's not like Epic is devoid of manpower or money to throw at the client to correct this either, they are immensely larger than Valve and yet it feels like they honestly have less people working on their client than Valve does Steam.
I think most people who complain about EGS are in the same boat as me here, if Epic focused on providing something actually unique of value to the consumer that isn't just an exclusive game and genuinely showed an effort to be more consumer friendly people would use it. Personally I use Steam, I use GOG, and I use Origin because those platforms all offer something unique that makes them worth using. EGS has nothing, and honestly it has genuinely less than nothing when we're not getting a shopping cart for another half year or gifting until who knows when and they'd rather make the consumer pay more on transaction fees than be willing to eat losses for their consumers like their competitors do.
I would love to add EGS to my platform list if they gave me a real reason to do it.
