Cities: Skylines kicks off 15 days of free games on the Epic Games Store
On the first day of dealsmas, my true love gave to me...
There's just over a week to go 'til giftsmas day - and while I'm sure we're all panicking over what to get our friends, loved ones and recurring villains, what's the harm in picking up a little treat for yourself? The Epic Games Store's holiday sale begins today, giving away a new free game for the next 15 days alongside the usual slew of store-wide deals. Your first gift is Cities: Skylines, with plenty more to come over the next two weeks.
Putting a hold on their weekly free rotation for the holidays, the Epic Games Store last week announced that they'd be giving away a new free game every day for 15 days, starting today. They'll only be available on the day they arrive - if you want to claim all 15, you'll need to log into the Epic Store every day for the next two weeks.
That's one way to make sure folks are checking in on your holiday sale, sure. The other way is to have deals worth checking up on - and on that end, it looks like the sale may have a good few bargains. At time of writing, the Holiday Sale page is throwing up a big ol' 404, but the Epic homepage is showing a fair few big-name discounts, including 40% off Star Wars: Squadrons, 60% off Rainbow Six: Siege and a weirdly-specific 17% discount on Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
Like last year, Epic are also throwing in a $10 coupon to spend on whatever you fancy. These are claimed by making a sales purchase or snagging a free game, though there are also more to be earned by picking up any "qualifying title" priced at $14.99 or above. A few new filters have been added to the store to help narrow down which games will land you these discount cards.
Cities: Skylines will be free to add to your library until tomorrow afternoon, at which point Epic will offer up a new free game. We don't know what's in store for the rest of the month. Starting with this does debunk one supposed leaked list which included The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Hitman 2 - but not Skylines.
So, we're still in the dark as to what the next two weeks will deliver. All the better for it, really - there's no shaking the box to work out what's inside here. Let's just hope Epic's website holds up long enough to grab 'em.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly suggested Cities: Skylines was a part of a leaked list of free games, drawing the conclusion that the leak was therefore accurate. Of course, I can't read, because Cities: Skylines is very much not featured in that leak. My bad.
Looking for more free games? Read our round-up of the latest free games on the Epic Games Store, as well as our list of the best free PC games you can play today. Want to take your free Epic games on the go? Then here's how to install the Epic Games launcher on your Steam Deck.