A new Epic Games Store update has added two important new user-based features to the storefront. Game ratings will allow you to see how the player base feels about a game, while new user polls will add various descriptors to give you an impression of what that game contains. However, there are a couple of things that set these features apart from other storefronts on Epic.
How will ratings work in the new Epic Games Store update?
Although it launched in a pretty barebones state, the Epic Games Store is slowly adding features that other storefronts have, like a shopping cart and an achievement system. Now, it's adding two more features: user reviews and polls that add descriptions to games so you can get a better idea of what you're about to play. Epic is doing things a little differently, though. Instead of submitting a review yourself, you may be randomly asked to do so after you've played a game for more than two hours. If you're selected, you'll be asked to give a score out of five, but you won't be asked to submit an actual review containing any text.
How will polls work in this Epic Games Store update?
As well as user ratings, Epic is also adding polls in the latest update. Just like with reviews, these polls will be randomly sent, so you won't be able to just choose to answer them whenever you want. At the end of a play session, you might be asked a series of questions relating to the game you've been playing. For example, you might be asked how difficult the game's combat is, or whether it's good to play with friends. Once enough polls have been answered, the results will generate tags for the game, which will then be used to filter results in the store. This should make it a little easier to find the kind of games you're looking for on the Epic Games Store.
This new Epic Games Store update is live right now, so you should be able to see it in action. To update the storefront, just click your name in the top-right corner. Besides the Settings menu, you should see "Update Available", which indicates that you can install and apply the update. You'll need to restart the launcher, though, so make sure you're not in the middle of something. We don't know whether this new update will be a major step on the road to making the Epic Store profitable by 2023, but it should make your experience a little easier as a user, at any rate.