Should You Be Wary of All the Free Games?

[Pastuch]

The only game I play is warzone

 

[Bamda]

Epic Store only gets my money when they offer exceptional deals, the same holds true for Steam. So far I have made 10 purchased since they started giving away free games. My loyalty is driven by my bottom line.

 

[Bamda]

Epic's free games are nice, and I have played a few of them, but their $10 reoccurring coupons around the holidays are really where its at. This year I think I used 4 coupons. Steam used to have really great sales even on pretty recent games, but lately they just seem to keep discounting the same old games and its rare to see a decent discount on a game less than a year old.

All of the purchases I have made on Epic Store is using those " $10 reoccurring coupons around the holidays", they make good deals great!

 

[Rayneofpayne]

In 30 years of gaming, I have NEVER installed a free game. Even when they use to come on CD/DVD in mags.

FREE games have no appeal and usually mean you'll be playing with degenerates anyway...

Agreed, I typically stay away from free multiplayer games as the riffraff tend to come in and it kind of bad enough dealing with the lower end people in pay games that are buy to play or even have sub fees although it's less you get people who think they can do as they please because they spend the money which can make dealing with grouping harder or even self detonate in game economies.

The only game I made an exception for is Path of Exile as I really don't have to put up with others although because the game is incredibly complex versus something like Diablo series you have the elitism mentality, which can make it harder for newer players to get involved. So it is a catch 22.

 

[Watzupken]

I've claimed a few games from EPIC store, but played only a couple of it. In fact, I think I spent the most time playing a game that I purchased from the store. While EPIC's idea was to get our library big enough so that we can leave behind the game library on Steam, unfortunately, it does not work that way. If I have a game library where I am interested only in 10% of the games, vs a library where I purchased the games there due to my interest, I will always go back to the latter.

On the point of number of active users, I am not sure if that translates to higher sales number. I suspect most people just go in on the given day where there are free games, claim, look around, then log out.

 

[jpuroila]

In 30 years of gaming, I have NEVER installed a free game. Even when they use to come on CD/DVD in mags.

FREE games have no appeal and usually mean you'll be playing with degenerates anyway...

I installed Hitman: Absolution when I got it as a freebie from GOG. Between a good chunk of the content for it being gone thanks to requiring servers that no longer exist, and not having proper support for 16:9, I'm pretty sure I'll never pay for a Hitman game. I'm sure there have been a couple other freebies I've tried, but I can't remember their names. And then there's Wasteland 2, which I keep meaning to try at some point...

 

[wildkat]

My only complaint about the Epic Games Store is that it is a pain if you happen to upgrade or move to a new computer. Unlike both Steam and GOG where you can just point the app to where your games are located, with Epic you have to download every game again. When I built a new system last year I pulled my games drive and put it in the new box. GOG and Steam too less than a minute to find and associate every game. Epic? About 12 hours of downloading.

 

[Wereweeb]

I take the free games from Epic, but I buy my games on GOG.

 

[MaitieS]

Lol this site is so epic bad valve good actually funny that someone actually cares such a pointless thing but I guess if you are student even why: 1+1 isn't 3 is a big deal.

 

[Ashford]

Free games are a baited fish hook set by players out to harm PC gaming and PC gamers, full stop. As the saying goes, "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product".

Is that how you thanked relatives for Christmas and birthday presents?

 

[terzaerian]

Is that how you thanked relatives for Christmas and birthday presents?

How utterly sick and perverse has our culture become that CCP-owned companies like Epic are qualified by shills as "relatives [giving] Christmas presents"?

My only complaint about the Epic Games Store is that it is a pain if you happen to upgrade or move to a new computer. Unlike both Steam and GOG where you can just point the app to where your games are located, with Epic you have to download every game again. When I built a new system last year I pulled my games drive and put it in the new box. GOG and Steam too less than a minute to find and associate every game. Epic? About 12 hours of downloading.

Why it's almost as if they're a cynical entity with zero understanding of PC gaming or enthusiasts whatsoever trying to dominate the space using brute force

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I installed Hitman: Absolution when I got it as a freebie from GOG. Between a good chunk of the content for it being gone thanks to requiring servers that no longer exist, and not having proper support for 16:9, I'm pretty sure I'll never pay for a Hitman game. I'm sure there have been a couple other freebies I've tried, but I can't remember their names. And then there's Wasteland 2, which I keep meaning to try at some point...

If you were ever a fan of Fallout and Fallout 2 - Wasteland games are great. I think I sunk a good 60 hours in Wasteland 2, beat it twice. Fun times.

I can deal with the fairly fragmented game store ecosystem that PC gaming now has, but is it too difficult to ask the applications to actually remember my login details for longer than a week or so? It's infuriating having to remember which one of the 8 or so sets of credentials to use if it's randomly decided to forget my login, despite always having 'keep me logged in' ticked. /rant.

Sounds like a personal issue.

Only times I've had to re-login to a digital platform was when I got my 5900x and finally made the move to Windows 10. I had to reinstall:
* Origin - I don't buy from it, just have it if I feel like installing a free game from them that I got years ago
* Ubisoft's Uplay - I don't use that often and buy maybe 1 game a year off it
* Steam - which still doesn't function as well as the old GUI did about 1.5 years ago and the forced social media wannabe crap they put on every aspect of the Steam platform is gross - I haven't supported Steam since the GUI muck up and issues it's caused
* GoG Galaxy 2.0 - my go to spot for buying games. If it's not coming to GoG, I won't buy it
* EGS - just started picking up free games here around Christmas 2020.

Any time I launch one of these digital platforms, I get logged in automatically. I don't need to re-enter my credentials and try to remember what password I have setup for each platform.

 

[ddferrari]

Downloaded many free AA/AAA games over the years from Epic, IndieGala, Origin, Ubisoft, etc. Never had an issue.

I will play them sometime... or not. Either way I've lost nothing!

But seriously, I've legit scored quite a few fairly modern titles for free lately on EPIC:

GTA 5
STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II: Celebration Edition (no idea, but $40 on Steam)
Remnant: From the Ashes
Just Cause 4
World War Z
Assassin's Creed Odyssey

 

[Stark]

Free games are a baited fish hook set by players out to harm PC gaming and PC gamers, full stop. As the saying goes, "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product".

Would like to clarify the post if I may be so bold...

When it comes to Mobile gaming a 200% yes to above,
But I will add in PC gaming there are models which offer better experience with free to play model due to the nature of the game itself. An Example would be League of Legends, DOTA, Anthem (I know, I know EA....), as a developer may need to add more player base for the game to be viable. And another extreme of such would be Genshin Impact, which does not need an expanded player base for the base game to be viable, and is certainly playable in a free to play state, but tempts you to spend as it will lower difficulty due to better weapon, character, or even character builds (constellation).
It's more prudent to spend your money with some common sense than to give in the mental conditioning which the developer may enforce upon you. But Free to play has certainly added to the PC gaming rather than harming it.

And am an old scrooge before ya all think I spend my money willy-nilly. For heaven’s sake, I still may have free DVD's from those PC magazine subscriptions around.

 

[Stoly]

I don't like any of these platforms because they still for the most part own all the games. They let you download the bulk of the game but you never own the exe file. I would rather rather own all the software and have the option to play the game offline or any platform that I could choose w/o being limited. How many things do you buy at full price and have the person you bought it from still be your partner that you have to include every time you use that product. It wasn't always like this and I wish it was as simple as it use to be.

I've got news for you my friend, you don't own any of your games. Even physical media.

 

[AMN3S1AC]

Oddly, I much prefer to pay for a game upfront. I have snagged a few free games in the past few years but, in general, they didn't get much playing time for me.

You essentially are paying for the game upfront, as there are no hidden costs applied to the games later.

 

[RedBlu]

There still seems to be a lot of mistrust with Epic store. Whether it's justified or not, a market dominated by Steam wouldn't be good for gamers - competition is good. I personally couldn't care less which platform I buy games on as long as they're reliable and the cheapest.

Have you seen the current state of video streaming? Theoretically, competition is good, but in practice good ol' human greed tends to warp it. I'm sure there's plenty of videogame corporations that would *love* to enact the same exclusive subscription model if only they had the market share to pull it off.

They're two steps away from being the company store: locking you in and using their own scrip.

Don't get me wrong, I suspect the only thing stopping Valve following everybody else down this gold-lined path is Gabe's controlling share and he isn't going to live forever.

 

[Shadowboxer]

I really don’t understand why people are loyal to Steam. It’s such a rubbish storefront, library. The features are all rubbish and most people use third party solutions. I remember when it launched it was just a drm tool to protect profits for a big corporation.

Epic isn’t much better but right now their free games and prices are better than other stores so I prefer them to the other launchers. And I’ve now played over 12 days of game time on games on my Epic account and had no problems whatsoever.

What makes me laugh is when you see people actively missing out on game because it’s not on steam yet. That’s so pathetic it’s hilarious. I genuinely believe execs in games companies laugh about this sort of behaviour.

Just remember, none of these companies, especially steam, give a dam about you. They are all about making as much money as possible by putting themselves between you and the publisher. Just go with what’s cheapest, enjoy your games and forget about the name of the software that launched it.

 

[hel0sn8]

I'd still rather pay for it on steam when I actually do want to play it...
I've claimed every free game on Epic for over a year

So you're a hypocrite in the same sentence? That's awesome. Not very clever. But just great. Look at you go.

How can a free full game be harmful to anyone - more so, how can the fact its free be damaging to you?

This user has got it right;

Just remember, none of these companies, especially steam, give a dam about you. They are all about making as much money as possible by putting themselves between you and the publisher. Just go with what’s cheapest, enjoy your games and forget about the name of the software that launched it.

 

[hel0sn8]

Oddly, I much prefer to pay for a game upfront. I have snagged a few free games in the past few years but, in general, they didn't get much playing time for me.

Odd thing to state. How about you tell us WHY you feel that way? Seriously?! Cos in my World, I'd rather everything for Free. I'd have thought all humans would feel that way. Yet you'd rather buy yet fail to explain why.

 

[SirDigby]

So you're a hypocrite in the same sentence? That's awesome. Not very clever. But just great. Look at you go.

Well done for editing my comment, when in fact, it was 2 different sentences. Notice the full stop?

I've claimed every free game on Epic for over a year, haven't played a single one yet. And I'd still rather pay for it on steam when I actually do want to play it...
GOG's Galaxy 2 has done a decent job of bringing them together but it's far from perfect, yet.

Also, you're quite late to the party.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Yes.