What’s happened? The Epic Games Store has launched the long-awaited Gifting feature. You can now buy a game and send it directly to a friend who has an Epic Games account.
- Gifts can be scheduled or delivered instantly and include a custom message.
- Only paid games, editions, eligible bundles, and add-ons can be gifted. Free games, pre-purchases, subscriptions, in-game currency, and consumables are excluded.
- Gifts must be accepted within 14 days, or they’re automatically refunded. If the recipient already owns the game, you get a refund.
- Gifting currently works only within the same region, with cross-region support planned for later.
New Gift button Epic Games Store
Recommended Videos
This is important because: For years, Epic lagged behind other major stores by not offering a native gifting option, despite building a huge user base with its weekly free-game drops.
- You can now buy the best games and send them directly to someone on your Epic Friends list, complete with a personal message and even scheduled delivery.
- It puts the Epic Games Store on equal footing with competitors like Steam.
- You earn Epic Rewards on gift purchases up to 20% and can spend your reward balance on future gifts.
Why should I care? If you’ve ever wanted to surprise a friend with a new co-op title or celebrate a birthday without overthinking it, Epic Games has you covered this time.
- The gifting process is simple and without the hassle of managing gift cards or codes through third-party platforms.
- If you’re already part of the Epic ecosystem, this gives you a new reason to use it socially.
Epic Games Store
OK, what’s next? You can head to the Epic Games Store today, choose any eligible title, and try the new “Buy as Gift” option.
- On any game’s store page, a new Gift button now appears below the standard Buy Now option.
- Make sure your friend is on your Epic Friends list and in the same region, since cross-region gifting isn’t available yet, but Epic says it’s on the roadmap.
- Expect developers to enable gifting on more bundles and add-ons in the future.
