Epic Games Store Free Games Will Require Users To Enable 2FA Security

The past few weeks, even months, have exhibited a surge in Internet activity and gaming at home. That means most of those accessing the Internet these days especially for work are doing so behind ordinary home networks and routers without the benefit of tightened security at the office. This, in turn, has also caused a spike in hacking and phishing attempts trying to take advantage of vulnerabilities which is why even gaming companies are now pushing people to secure their accounts, especially if they still want access to a selection of free games.

Epic Games recently made an announcement that could cause some gamers to groan or mumble. It is, in effect, trying to "encourage" users to secure their accounts two-factor authentication or 2FA. This would then require them to enter a code sent to them via email, an app, or (hopefully not) SMS before they can log in.

Epic's strategy is not to force people to make the switch, something it may fear would lead to some sensational complaints. Instead, it is dangling it as a sort of reward. If users want to claim free games from its Store, they may be asked periodically to enable 2FA on their accounts.

2FA really a small inconvenience that users might want to make, especially these days. With hacking attempts on the rise, they have the responsibility to protect the investments they have made in the form of buying games from the Epic Games Store. They shouldn't have to wait until Epic Games suffers the same fate as Nintendo did.

Last week, Nintendo fell victim to a hacking attempt that reportedly affected 160,000 accounts. The company assures no personal or financial information was stolen but it also moved to disable its old Nintendo Network ID for security purposes. Nintendo account holders were also encouraged to enable 2FA security on their accounts for good measure.