The head of Epic Games criticized Valve for the limited capabilities of the Steamworks API for multiplayer games. In an interview with the PC Gamer portal, he stated that the company has seriously complicated the lives of both developers and other app stores.
Tim Sweeney pointed out that the Steamworks API only works correctly with Steam. The disadvantages of this solution Epic Games Store had to learn from their own experience shortly after launch. As Sweeney says, his store did not support Steamworks, so developers of multiplayer games who appeared in the Epic Games Store faced “breakdowns”. For the normal operation of the titles, they were forced to either cut the functionality of the games, or remove the crossplay from Steam.
Recall that on March 9, Epic Games allowed developers to independently publish games in the Epic Games Store. One of the requirements for multiplayer projects was the support of crossplay with other PC stores.