Epic Games Store hires Blizzard's Battle.net lead to take on Steam

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Epic has hired a new and seasoned VP to lead the Epic Games Store as the storefront struggles to compete with Valve's Steam.

Martin Keely, who had been with Blizzard for seven years when he left his role as SVP overseeing the Battle.net launcher, is the new Epic Games Store VP and GM, a role previously held by Steve Allison. Allison boasted about the Epic Games Store's free games program in a GamesRadar+ interview from February, but he left the company in July and took up a new position at Saber Interactive.

In a Linkedin post , Keely shares: "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. To my new Epic colleagues: I look forward to connecting soon and building together."

As for his time at Blizzard, Keely says he "learned something new every day" he worked there and is "proud of how we worked to achieve growth and record results as a platform -- unlocking the greatness of gaming and bringing joy to millions of players around the world."

Keely's announcement comes as Epic struggles to chip away at Steam's not-a-monopoly on the PC games market. It's not uncommon for companies to poach talent from their competition for all sorts of reasons, although the exact details of Keely's appointment are unclear.

What this means for PC gamers is that you will very likely see some pretty significant changes to the Epic Games Store in the coming months. One thing's for sure, it'll take a lot more than Epic CEO Tim Sweeney deriding Steam's policy on AI disclosures to turn the Epic Games Store into a legitimate threat to Valve.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says new multiplayer games flop because everyone's "already formed solid human networks in Fortnite, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and Apex Legends"