Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
  1. Electronics
  2. Gaming

Free Video Games You Can Download Right Now

Updated
An illustration of aliens, monsters and UFOs attacking a car.
Illustration: Dana Davis
Haley Perry

By Haley Perry

Haley Perry is a writer focused on video games and booze. She has spent innumerable hours playing games and tasting spirits.

When it comes to free video games, you might think of some kind of ad-filled, microtransaction-riddled thing on your phone or PC. But it’s likely you’ve been missing out on free, great, full-featured video games for years. If you’ve ever played Fortnite on your PC, developer and publisher Epic Games has been trying to give you other games for free since the end of 2018.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Whether you own a PlayStation, a smartphone, or a gaming PC, accounts or memberships you probably already have regularly give away full-length games on a monthly or weekly basis. These games offer great opportunities to break out of your comfort zone and try new genres. We’ve compiled a list of all the titles you can get your hands on right now (or very soon) if you have an active PlayStation Plus, Netflix, or Amazon Prime subscription, or if you’ve signed up for a free account with Epic Games.

Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription service grants online access for multiplayer games and varying discounts in the PlayStation Store. You have three price tiers to choose from, which you can read more about in our guide to choosing the right PlayStation 5. No matter which PS Plus subscription tier you choose, you receive at least two free games every month that you can download into your library and access for as long as you have an active membership. Keep in mind that some free titles are reserved for higher tiers of PlayStation Plus subscriptions.

For the month of July 2024, PS Plus members can download the following games for free:

Borderlands 3

A large red mutated dinosaur faces off with a person in a mechanical tank suit shooting at the dinosaur.
Borderlands 3. Image: Gearbox Software

Borderlands 3 (free until August 6, 2024)

ESRB rating: M

In August, the live-action Borderlands film adaptation will be hitting theaters, and this month you can download one of the best games in the Borderlands franchise for free on PlayStation. This open-world, first-person shooter set on the planet of Pandora is full of chaotic battles, witty characters, and a randomized loot system that will have you scrambling to pick up new guns and gear dropped by enemies. You can play the game solo or team up with friends in split-screen and online co-op.

EA Sports NHL 24

A hockey player in a red and blue uniform skids across the ice with a hockey stick.
EA Sports NHL 24. Image: Electronic Arts

EA Sports NHL 24 (free until August 6, 2024)

ESRB rating: E10+

NHL 24 is the newest edition in EA’s long-standing lineup of games centered on professional hockey. In local co-op you can play with up to four players on the same screen, or you can hop online with up to 12 players. The online multiplayer also supports cross-play on same-generation Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Among Us

Several little suited characters standing around a table with a button labeled "Emergency" on it.
Among Us. Image: Innersloth

Among Us (free until August 6, 2024)

ESRB rating: E10+

If you missed Among Us at the height of its popularity during the early days of the pandemic, now is a great time to see what the fuss was all about. This simple game about teamwork and betrayal asks you and your friends to work together to prepare a spaceship for departure while also trying to identify which members of your crew are secretly trying to sabotage you. It supports cross-platform, multiplayer gameplay for four to 15 players.

It’s difficult to sift through the sea of games and apps on the Google Play and iOS App stores to find free games that don’t suck, and most of the best mobile options are available only with formal purchases, through Apple Arcade, or via cloud streaming, all of which require separate subscriptions. However, there are some decent mobile games that you may not know you can access if you already have a Netflix account.

Free games with a Netflix account

Screenshot of games on the Netflix home page, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
The home screen of the Netflix app on smartphones and tablets includes a row of available games that you can download. Screenshot: Haley Perry

If you have a Netflix account, you may not know about the selection of mobile games that you can access for free on your smartphone or tablet. As long as you have the app installed plus an active subscription, you can download nearly 70 games for free that omit the annoying ads and microtransactions that often feature prominently in mobile games. Netflix doesn’t add new games to this group on a regular basis, but it does occasionally expand its catalog, which currently includes a handful of quality titles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, one of our favorite couch co-op games, and Oxenfree II, a great game published by Netflix itself. You can also browse Netflix’s selection of free games on its website.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Players with gaming-capable PCs can explore a world of free, full-length games. Services like Amazon Prime and Epic Games release PC versions of games for free on a weekly or monthly basis, and even if you don’t have time or plans to play them right away, you can claim them when they become available to round out your video game library. No service we’ve seen makes you download games immediately to claim them. In fact, you don’t even need a gaming PC to claim these free games, so if you’re even thinking of building a desktop computer for gaming (or you’re considering getting a gaming laptop) and want to have a library ready when you do, you should start taking advantage of these offers right away. However, for games from publishers like Ubisoft or Electronic Arts, you might need to also create accounts for their respective services to complete the redemption process, which should always be free.

Free weekly games with an Epic Games account

A screenshot showing the option to download for free and play Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Epic Games offered Wolfenstein: The New Order for free from June 2, 2022, to June 9, 2022.

The Epic Games store gives away games every week, and all you have to do to claim them is sign up for a free account. Even if you don’t have the space on your computer to store all of the games it gives away (or the time to play them), it’s worthwhile to sign in and claim them for your library regardless. Once claimed, the games in your library never expire, and you can download and play them at any time. The quality of the games is usually pretty great, too—previous giveaways have included the Tomb Raider trilogy (that’s 2013’s Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and all downloadable content released for each title), Borderlands 3 and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, BioShock: The Collection, Prey, and Grand Theft Auto 5. Additionally, Epic offers solid indie games in its weekly rotation, which is an easy way to try out new games and genres you might not typically spring for. To see which games Epic is currently giving away, visit the free games page on its website.

Free monthly games for Amazon Prime members

Screenshot of Amazon game page including Two Point Hospital, Spellcaster University, and Blasphemous.
Prime Gaming has offered games such as Two Point Hospital, Spellcaster University, and Blasphemous in the past. Screenshot: Haley Perry

Amazon Prime members can automatically access free games each month from the Prime Gaming page. Amazon usually gives away a handful of games at once that range from indie to higher-profile titles, with past selections including Dragon Age: Inquisition, Control, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Two Point Hospital. Although you need to have an active Amazon Prime subscription—or opt in to the free trial—to claim the free games, they’ll remain yours forever even if you discontinue your Prime subscription. Prime Gaming also gives away in-game content for games you may already own on any platform, such as free loot boxes and gear for Destiny 2, Grand Theft Auto Online, and Overwatch.

If you have a Twitch account, you can also link it to your Amazon Prime account to get a few extra features on Twitch, such as a free premium channel subscription and a special chat badge. Instructions for how to link your Twitch and Amazon Prime accounts can be found on Amazon’s website.

During the month of July 2024, Amazon Prime members can download:

  • Deceive Inc.
  • Tearstone: Thieves of the Heart
  • The Invisible Hand
  • Call of Juarez
  • Forager
  • Card Shark
  • Heaven Dust 2
  • Soulstice
  • Wall World
  • Hitman Absolution
  • Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
  • Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX
  • Samurai Bringer

In September 2023, Xbox discontinued the Games with Gold program, which granted players with an Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate membership at least two free games per month. Xbox Live Gold has transitioned into Xbox Game Pass Core, and Games with Gold has disappeared. Rather than giving away free monthly games, Game Pass Core offers a catalog of more than 35 games, such as Dishonored 2 and Fallout 4, available to play on demand.

 

This article was edited by Arthur Gies and Jason Chen.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Meet your guide

Haley Perry

Haley Perry is an associate staff writer at Wirecutter covering video games and technology. She used to review video games full-time, and she’s also a big fan of mezcal. If you get enough in her, she may just admit that she still plays The Sims ... a lot.

Further reading

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Edit