BattleNet lead jumps to Epic Games Store to hopefully make it significantly less crap

Published:

29 July 2026

Last Updated: 29 July 2026

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The Epic Games Store is a haven for free games, gacha titles, Fortnite, and nothing else. In fact, the store has become so hated that many will simply buy a game on Steam if others are getting it for free on EGS.

After eight years of sitting on their thumbs, Epic is finally working to make their titular storefront somewhat less sh*t. Earlier this year, it was announced that the store will be improved by “rebuilding the underlying architecture of the Epic Games Store” with the first improvements coming soon.

As part of Epic’s push to make the Epic Games Store at least vaguely usable, the company has hired Activision-Blizzard’s SVP Martin Keely, who lead years of updates to the studio’s in-house BattleNet launcher. Once a market leader, BattleNet saw some major advancements to support games outside of Blizzard’s ecosystem, but largely stayed to Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, and the like.

In a post on Twitter, or X if you’re like that, Keely announced their hiring to fans. “I’m thrilled and honoured to announce my new role with Epic Games – joining as the VP/General Manager of Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services,” they said. “I’m excited to get started with the team delivering new capabilities that elevate player, creator and developer experiences. And I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to play a role in shaping an open and sustainable gaming ecosystem.”

Quite ironically, maybe, is the fact that the BattleNet launcher is also a largely annoying tool compared to the likes of Steam. In fact, just earlier this year, during the launch of World of Warcraft: Midnight, I remember trying for hours to redeem a single code within the launcher on desktop to no avail, having to instead use a mobile phone browser to redeem it. Great stuff!

It’s been eight years, almost, and the EGS still looks and acts the same as it did on launch, albeit with some minor new features.

Nevertheless, it’s clear that Epic has finally realised that the Epic Games Store needs to be at least somewhat competent for gamers to actually want to use it. This includes user reviews, forums, modding support, and other additions. How much of this will actually be implemented, though, is an absolute unknown.

As someone who does use the Epic Games Store—a free game is a free game, after all—it would be nice if the client could simply load my library. Out of every launcher on PC, none have been as hesitant to load the games I’ve bought or redeemed for free than Epic’s creaky, resource-hungry, Unreal-powered desktop client. It’s quite impressive, really.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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