this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
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Way to stick it to em!

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[–] Krzd@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yup, I'm at 372 free games on epic, plus 3 bought ones, and 2 key activations. It's amazing.

[–] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 106 points 3 days ago (5 children)

You can use this FOSS tool to automatically claim those games.

https://github.com/vogler/free-games-claimer

Some even work pretty well on Linux using the Heroic Launcher.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 27 points 3 days ago

What the hell, I had no idea such a tool existed... I do not intend to use it... But it is so cool regardless.

[–] Mora@pawb.social 9 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Does that still work? Last updated over a year ago and the free games are usually protected by some rather creative captchas.

[–] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

lol, it was last updated 3 days ago

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[–] minyaen@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago

That's actually pretty awesome, thanks!

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[–] orgrinrt@lemmy.world 77 points 3 days ago (10 children)

Initially I, too, claimed those, but ultimately I never ended up playing them and often I’d just end up buying them from steam instead. It’s funny how I’m willing to pay for something I can have for free, if it’s convenient and easy. So I didn’t claim them for very long, stopped a long time ago, and still just ignore it if a game I thirst for is available for free.

But that’s also a pretty dark prospect: Because I have my entire extensive library on steam, I’m kind of stuck with them. And while they are not abusing that presently, I’m fairly confident they will someday. And I, along with most everyone playing on pc, will be shit out of luck then.

It’s hard to diversify at this point, when I’m too far gone, and knowing changing or adding services will increase the complexity of using it all and keeping mental track of all the games and where they are.

Ugh.

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If Steam ever fucks over consumers I will pirate 100% of my games from that day on unless an indie company allows me to buy directly from them or through GoG.

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[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Because I have my entire extensive library on steam, I’m kind of stuck with them. And while they are not abusing that presently, I’m fairly confident they will someday.

Yeah. I am confident that long term access to classic games is a torch only sufficiently carried by software pirates.

Don't get me wrong, I adore things like the Atari 50th Anniversary collection, and what Evercade is doing with esoteric arcade titles. (And I delight in throwing money at them.)

But only a small fraction of the greatest games get that kind of loving licensed treatment.

For the rest of gaming history, software pirates are essential.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

While I don't disagree with anything you said, I think this comment descended into nihilism with alarming rapidity and I hope you're okay.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 5 points 2 days ago

Just enshittification fatigue. Every service being provided is hostile to us, so it makes us uneasy if one isn't.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago

There's programs that keep track of all your libraries... GOG Galaxy is one of them.

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I too have over 200 games on Epic and have purchased non of them. This is none news. I buy my games on Steam and get my free games on Epic.

[–] wrekone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago

And the once or twice a year Epic offers a free game I actually want to play, I enjoy it just as much as if I'd bought it elsewhere.

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[–] ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is the point though. They have beefed up my Epic Games library to the point where if I got banned from Steam, I would have a viable fallback.

That cannot be understated. It has a network effect and makes adopting it as a new platform versus a legacy one with two decades behind it, far easier to adjust to.

I love that at least someone is really trying other than MS with their poorly supported windows games store attempts.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's pretty easy to avoid being banned.

[–] Dkarma@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No shit.
You have to be a dick to even be remotely worried about this kind of thing.

[–] ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I just like to own the things I own. And I'm more worried about someone hijacking my account because they want some bullshit inventory item or something than getting banned for something toxic. Account theft is sadly still pretty common.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You don't own anything on Epic either. Epic is actually significantly worse for people losing their accounts and having no way of recovering them.

If for some reason I lost access to my Stream account I would just pirate copies of the games I've already purchased.

The same applies for Epic as well regarding piracy. Again it's just a matter of diversifying.

If I had to rebuy 100% of my games, Id never adopt Epic at all. Atleast this way the library has something of value as an alternative without costing me a fortune.

Absolutely. But if someone got you in one of those steam inventory scams or stole your access token, it sucks if you lose your entire game library and have all your eggs in one basket.

So having a bunch "backed up" so to speak with Epic gives some peace of mind. VAC bans aren't common for most users, but they do make mistakes sometimes.

[–] TheOakTree@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It will always be weird to me that microsoft sells some games both on the microsoft store app and the xbox app, but other games exclusively through the xbox app.

I'm thinking even farther back to their wretched Windows Live and then Games for Windows Live platform (now dead). MS is one of the biggest companies on earth and couldn't find a cohesive way to migrate that game ownership forward.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 18 points 2 days ago

Of course i know him that's me.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 56 points 3 days ago (2 children)

That's literally the only reason I have Epic on my PC.

Free games every week.

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You can just claim them on the webpage, no need to install the launcher.

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[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

i went a couple years, pretty steady. now it's whenever i remember--and it's not been that often. only one during the winter deals.

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[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)
  • Steam: 1325
  • GoG: 174
  • Epic: 406

Epic and GoG I've not bought a single thing from either of them, that's all free shit. For Steam, most of that is stuff that's been accumulated from Humble Bundles and just from having an account for ~20 years now. If I were to just quit my job and game full-time for the rest of my life, there's probably more games to play in my collection than I have years left to live.

[–] FilthyHands@sh.itjust.works 50 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I stopped claiming epic freebies when I realized I ended up buying the game on steam anyway.

[–] athairmor@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Just use Heroic launcher to play the free Epic games.

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[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

Guess their free giveaways kinda work as a promotion then.

I'm cheap, once I get the game free somewhere I take it off my Steam wishlist.

[–] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago

Hmm. Let's see here...

Steam: 147
GOG: 174
Epic: 286

I've paid for about 2/3 of the Steam games, probably a quarter of the GOG ones, and maybe two or three of the Epic ones.

[–] schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Only 200? Try harder, noob.

(I'm at 410, and my Epic library is now three times the size of my Steam one, lol.)

There's no way I'd catch up to my Steam library, there's like 1,200+ games in there at this point. 2nd biggest is GOG with ~300 but I've been using Steam since HL2

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 9 points 2 days ago

I too have basically all of them. A few have caught my interest on PC. More than a few were a big pain to get working on Steam Deck even with Heroic Launcher.

[–] hmmm@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 days ago

My friend too have over 100 games. He never even play them but thankfully to him I don't have to make Epic Account.

[–] TheBananaKing@lemmy.world 24 points 3 days ago (3 children)

And never plays any of them.

The whole UX is just so bad

[–] athairmor@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (4 children)
[–] TyrianMollusk@lemm.ee 9 points 3 days ago

If this added itch.io it'd be a fantastic filler for managing all the non-DRM off-Steam stuff.

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[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 2 days ago

I have 10 free games from GOG too and without DRM!

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 3 days ago (7 children)

And thats exactly why Epic is untrustworthy. Its like a shady guy on the corner saying "Hey i will give you 500 bucks if you just do this easy little thing for me. Will be done right away no worries".

[–] Kelly@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Epic needs to pump their MAU stats to look like a legitimate platform. They know what's going on and are happy to pay.

What I don't know is what they actually pay the publishers.

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[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 18 points 3 days ago (5 children)

I'm pretty sure there are tons of people like that. It's the same for me.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Yeah, that's pretty common. 200+ games and they don't even have payment info for me.

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[–] unrushed233@lemmings.world 12 points 3 days ago

Meh.. Piracy is still better 🏴‍☠️

[–] EarMaster@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

So he didn't claim even half of them?

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