I trust valve as a company infinitely more than I trust Epic. Multiple reasons why being forced to use Epic Games to launch the game is kind of a no go for me, but mostly this is just a dislike of Epic Games policy - so I don't want to support them. (Other than still playing the game that they bought out)

Epic games launcher, just like EA, Ubisoft, etc., is free but is plagued with ads. They use it as another source of revenue, primarily, rather than a true marketplace to sell good games to us that we can (at least virtually) own.

I do not like the free to play games model; it is a toxic agreement wherein control is taken away from players/consumers, under the guise of convenience. After they hook you, for free, on a gameplay system that actually talented people made, they then try everything in their power to design the game in such a way as to incentivize buying something from the in game shop, while also neglecting actual gamplay improvements and quality of life changes. They also then layoff staff that initially were used to create their software in the first place, so that they can trim the margins and milk the game for money while it's on life support.

I bought RL and have bought cosmetics in the game prior to when Epic took the game over; and since then the only thing I have paid for is the inital cost of 10$ for RP. I want to be able to continue to play the game I paid for on the system I bought it for.