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.
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.
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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.
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.
