According to TechSpot, a prominent tipster on X, @9550pro, has leaked the entire list of 14 games the Epic Games Store is rumored to give away for free, one per day, between December 18 and December 31. The list starts with the currently free Hogwarts Legacy and includes titles like Desperados 3, Total War: Warhammer, and Lego Batman on Christmas Eve. The alleged finale on December 31 is the massive blockbuster Red Dead Redemption 2. The leak’s first real test is whether Epic reveals Jurassic World: Evolution 2 as the next free game today. If the list holds, it would be one of Epic’s most valuable holiday promotions ever.
Epic’s Holiday Gambit
Here’s the thing about Epic’s holiday giveaways: they’re not really about selling games during the sale. They’re about user acquisition, plain and simple. Every time Epic gives away a titan like GTA V or, potentially, Red Dead 2, their servers groan under the weight of millions of new account sign-ups and launcher downloads. It’s a brutally effective, if expensive, strategy to carve out market share from Steam. Think of it as a loss leader on steroids. They’re basically buying your presence on their platform with a premium game, hoping you’ll stick around and spend money later. And you know what? For a lot of people, it works.
The Curious Case of Missing Games
The most fascinating part of this leak is the inclusion of games not currently on the Epic Store, like Commander Keen, Terraria, and Mortal Kombat 11. This actually lends some credibility to the rumor. Epic has a history of securing a game for a giveaway as its debut on their storefront. It’s a win-win: the publisher gets a huge lump-sum payment and instant exposure to Epic’s user base, and Epic gets to advertise an “exclusive” freebie. Commander Keen for Christmas Day is a weirdly charming deep cut, though. A 35-year-old, $5 game as a holiday gift? It’s nostalgic, but is it really a draw? Maybe that’s the point—it’s a quiet day, so they offer a curious little artifact.
Red Dead 2: The Server Killer
Ending with Red Dead Redemption 2 is the nuclear option. That’s a game that still retails for $60 and is considered one of the greatest of all time. If this is true, expect a repeat of the GTA V chaos. Epic’s infrastructure will be tested. But why would Rockstar agree to this? Well, the original Red Dead Redemption just hit PC and modern consoles, and the leak suggests a next-gen update for RDR2 is coming. What better way to re-energize the entire Red Dead online ecosystem than by dumping tens of millions of new players into it overnight? It’s a strategic move to boost their live service component, using Epic’s money as the catalyst.
The Bigger Picture
So what does this mean for the PC storefront war? Epic continues to fight with a wallet, not just features. While Steam innovates with Deck and user reviews, Epic’s playbook is simple: pay for exclusives, and pay to give away classics. It’s a costly strategy that hasn’t yet turned them into the dominant player, but it has absolutely forced Steam to react with better revenue splits and more frequent sales. For us gamers, it’s a golden age of freebies and competition. Even if you never open the Epic launcher except to claim these games, you’re building a library for a rainy day. And if the finale really is Red Dead 2? Well, clear your schedule on New Year’s Eve. You’ll probably be waiting in a digital queue.
