Is Epic Games safe to get free games from?

I was in the same spot as you.

I still dont trust them, so I dont download anything (for now).

Make an account on your browser, just keep claiming the games till you trust them maybe at some point in the future.

Yeah they spy on you through your webcam, tap your phones, sell your credit card info, no serious, which such a big company, what do you expect?

You are just lke a year late though with getting free games.

It is safe, i.e. they're not going to install ransomware on your machine or try to steal money.

Whether the company can be trusted is another matter entirely: Facebook is "safe" too but would you trust them?

With Epic there was at least an instance of collecting data from the machine, specifically the Steam client, without informing the user or asking for authorization, the reactions from people associated with the company were less than great IMO.

I mean.. It's a multi million dollar company. As safe as anyone of those. It's not G2A if that's what you're asking. You are a bit late for freebies though... I played several games with their launcher, which is also used for Unreal Engine, so it's definitely safe.

People are scared because Epic Games is 40% owned by the Chinese conglomerate Tencent. People are also upset about various missing features compared to Steam and the way they are paying developers/publishers to keep their games off Steam. There are other things that bother people but I think those are the main arguments.

I don't know what you have heard about being shady, but i guess they aren't well recieved in gaming community due to their business model. Maybe you are skeptical after reading that. For free games they do not require anything from you except a simple account. You dont need any payment method You still maybe be sceptical downloading from them that i can't say much since i haven't seen any problem with that. I played few of their games too. There was no problem for me.

Also I don't if they will continue but here is what you have missed since you asked if it's worth for games, you can decide for youself;

https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/5Wuhy/freenot-steamepic-games-darksiders-warmsted-darksiders-ii-deathinited-steep-til-9-jan

It's as safe as any other gaming platform out there, including Steam, UPlay, Origin, GoG. You only need an email and password to register. Use one-offs for both, not something you use for any other website, your bank, utility payments, ect. Free games... you don't have to enter any payment info or PII to place the order, just click [Get} and the game is added to your account. Use the settings in the client options menu to disable ads, or notifications, set privacy, ect. And make sure you log out, and exit the client from your taskbar after closing the client.

Seriously, there is a lot of misinformation and knee-jerk "outrage" reactions to Epic and other platforms, from Steam fanbois/gurls. Just because someone posts it on the Internet, doesn't make it "true". Use best practices for security- software, PW and email. If you don't trust it, why would you even consider using the client, just to get free games? That you have to use the client to launch and play.

Ah alright, thanks everyone for the reply!

If you don't trust them, use a throwaway mail address, and just use the web store. You don't need the client for adding free games anyway.

If you're worried about the platform I've used it since Unreal 4 Alpha, Fortnite Alpha and Paragon. It works fine IMO, never had any issues. Its not Steam...nothing is.
As a company I've followed them since Jill of the Jungle / Jazz Jackrabbit and they have always been a great. I just don't approve of their current business model which I almost blame fully on Fortnites success. Hopefully they stop chasing the money and go back to making great games. They already make a lot just from licensing their Unreal engine.
...& I'm still beefing over Paragon so just collecting their games. Still play Unreal 4 every now and then.

Mankind who wants to live longer does not say why.
Smart humans are afraid of what lies behind such companies.

However, if you are vigilant there, you should not play games using Unreal Engine.
In addition to Epic, Steam has many games made with Unreal Engine.

At one point, the terms relating to Unreal Engine have been revised since Epic was acquired.

That part is ...

It's just a story that exists as an element of worry and concern.
.... may be investigating some.

In any case, there are many companies that are bound by the "vanity of money", and many countries and companies do not choose any means.

FEAR THEM! They will eat your babies!

If you're ok with spyware on your PC which tracks needed infos for them then it's safe

No, put your tinfoil hat on and only trust american companies.

No, if you have Steam installed they will steal all your keys and resell them on their store. They also use geolocation to break into your house (they already tried to rob my friend's uncle) and they will most definitely share your email with evil entities such as Winnie the Pooh, Paradox Interactive and Randy Pitchford.

Safe? Most likely yes. Ethical? That's a whole other story.

A throwaway e-mail address as Crossbourne said is the best way to go. Nothing to fear ^^.

and what is so shady about Epic Games?

I have been playing games on their launcher for like months and never had any problems. Kinda paranoic when we are talking about free games.

Well. Any other website will also have the risk where information will be leaked.

At the very most your computer information will be tracked :P

Of course greedy freeloaders will take free games even from the Devil himself, but one famous user madjoki discovered that Epic Launcher collects data which it shouldn't collect. And it's not a rumour, just a fact.
Is it the only data collected by Epic from your PC? We don't know.

Well, at least they're safer than Google, Facebook, Amazon, all that kind of crap...

Bad security but propably won't steal your data, no features, lying about "caring about" indie devs and stoping the "steam monopoly" while trying to become the monopoly themselves, the list goes on... so do you care about these things or you just want to play the game and toss it aside afterwards? You can play games just fine there, think of it like an old cellphone you can call someone but not much else xD it's functional but barely by today standarts.