Every week, publishers give away thousands of full games, DLC packs and starter bundles — completely free. It sounds too good to be true, but it's a core marketing strategy. Here's how it works and how to catch every drop.
Why Publishers Give Away Free Games
Nobody's losing money on your free copy — it's a win-win.
The Types of Game Giveaways
Keep-Forever Giveaways
The gold standard. Claim during the window, own the game permanently. Epic's weekly free games and most Steam key drops work this way.
Free Weekend / Free Month
Time-limited access. Great for trying expensive multiplayer games — progress usually carries over if you buy.
DLC & Starter Packs
Free loot for games you already play: XP boosts, currency, cosmetics. MMOs and shooters run these constantly.
Beta & Playtest Keys
Early access to unreleased games. Sometimes the key keeps working at launch.
The Catch: Giveaways Expire Fast
The average giveaway window is 2-14 days; the best ones last 48 hours. This is by design — urgency drives claims. Manual checking doesn't scale, which is how people miss free $60 games.
The System That Never Misses
1. Check one aggregator, not ten sites. FreeDeck's giveaways tracker lists every active giveaway across Steam, Epic, GOG, itch.io, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch — refreshed every 6 hours
2. Sort by "Ending soon" — the default view shows what's about to disappear
3. Claim first, decide later. A claimed game stays in your library forever
4. Watch the countdown badges. Red = less than 24 hours left
5. Claim the DLC packs too — starter bundles for MMOs and shooters are free money for games you already play
Giveaway Safety Rules
Start Claiming
There are 100+ active giveaways live right now. Open the giveaways feed, sort by what's ending, and claim today's batch — then browse 400+ free-to-play games while they download.