No money? No problem. There are countless free first-person shooters to play. We’ve rounded up all of the best free FPS games that you can start playing now.
A few years back, downloading a free first-person shooter (FPS) was a sure way to infect your computer with some sort of malware. These days, however, free FPS games are a dime a dozen, with world-class publishers releasing their own free-to-play shooters to the masses. Here are our picks for the best free FPS games that you can play right now.
It has been quite a few years since Respawn Entertainment launched the excellent Titanfall 2, a full-priced multiplayer shooter that mixed brilliant on-foot gunplay with hulking, walking tanks that delivered deadly firepower. Rather than create a full sequel, the studio instead developed the free-to-play Apex Legends, a battle royale game cut from the same cloth as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4‘s “Blackout” mode. The only difference is that you can play as one of 13 legends, each with their own unique abilities.
Set on an enormous map littered with squads of two or three, Apex Legends feels like a battle royale game made for people who don’t typically enjoy the genre. There is still a circle that closes in on your position, but if you don’t like where you spawned, you can find a device that flings you back into the air. If you happen to get killed early on, your teammates still have a chance to recover your “banner” and revive you at a special medical station.
These tweaks are placed on top of a gorgeous and varied map, and Respawn’s signature snappy weapon controls are back in full force. It isn’t Titanfall 3, but it’s still great. In fact, Apex Legends attracted more than 50 million players in its first month.
OriginPlayStation StoreMicrosoft Store
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds first amassed a huge following on PC, and later on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. However, the free-to-play PUBG Mobile offers a great alternative version for anyone itching to get their battle royale fix on the go. The game uses a combination of virtual buttons and sticks to create a shooting experience much better than it has any right to be, and with optional motion controls, you can even fine-tune your shot to take out the most distant targets with a sniper rifle. As with its big siblings, PUBG Mobile supports duo and team-based matches, and built-in voice chat allows you to coordinate with your teammates before you approach a new area.
You can actually play PUBG Mobile in either first-person or third-person perspectives, and you don’t even have to have a mobile device to get in on the action. Publisher Tencent developed its own emulation tool so you can play the game from your PC with a mouse and keyboard setup. It won’t have the same fidelity as the full PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, but it’s completely free to play and just as addicting.
Tencent also recently extended the reach of its PUBG Lite release to almost anywhere other than North America. Initially restricted to Thailand, this free alternative to the original PC release also relaxes the more taxing system requirements, making it easier on older systems. If you had to settle for the mobile version because of an aging machine, PUBG Lite might be what you’re looking for. Likewise, there’s PUBG Mobile Lite if a 2014 handset is your only option.
Apple StoreGoogle PlayWindows
After last year’s attempt to use a battle royale mode to sell a $60 Call of Duty game, Activision surprised us by releasing another attempt absolutely free of charge. Call of Duty: Warzone is, by and large, a mode designed for the 2019 release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Leaks made paying players well aware of what was coming, but not that it didn’t require a purchase at all. It was a shocking move that pushed Activision’s battle royale to 30 million users in the first 10 days — a feat that echoed the staggering start of EA’s Apex Legends.
But Warzone is more than just Call of Duty: Battle Royale. It’s two modes in one entirely free package — Battle Royale and Plunder. The first is mostly what you’d expect, with vending machine-like boxes allowing squads to resurrect their fallen friends and secure infamous killstreaks. Plunder, on the other hand, takes place on the same map but allows for unlimited respawns. The aim here is to collect cash from boxes, objective-based missions, other players, and things like random airdrops and downed choppers. Intercept other teams’ attempts to bank their cash and swipe it for yourself. It’s an absolute riot that helped the F2P offering land a spot on our best Call of Duty games list. Bravo, Activision.
Read our Call of Duty: Warzone review
Multiplatform
Riot Games is no stranger to the free-to-play genre, focusing most of its history on League of Legends before moving on to a slew of mobile games. Valorant is its latest attempt, and although it keeps the MOBA roots of the studio, it adds first-person action into the mix. The hybrid MOBA-FPS isn’t officially out yet — looks like Amazon’s Crucible beat Valorant to the punch — but if you’re lucky enough to snag a beta key, you can play Valorant ahead of its summer 2020 launch.
Valorant shares more with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch than it does with Apex Legends or PUBG. The main and only game mode is a variation of search and destroy, where one team’s goal is to plant a bomb, with the other team’s goal being to defuse it. Rounds go by in a matter of minutes, and you’ll play through multiple rounds before the match ends. Valorant’s hero-based gameplay makes each round interesting, as you unleash unique abilities to help you claim victory. Valorant doesn’t present too many new ideas, but it’s still an excellent free-to-play FPS outside of the battle royale genre.
Windows
Id Software is the king of first-person shooters, playing a pivotal role in their development in the ’90s. Few games were more influential during that time than Quake. The lightning-fast shooter put reflexes and skill above all else, becoming a popular early esport and spawning several sequels. With Quake Champions, which went free-to-play in August 2018, Id delivers classic Quake action at a speed you can only get on PC — unlike most of the studio’s recent work, it isn’t available on consoles. You’ll need a capable system to run it too, with Id Software recommending at least 16GB of RAM and an AMD R9 290 GPU. You can spend the money to upgrade your computer with the cash you didn’t have to spend on the game!
Quake Champions features a variety of different game modes, including traditional deathmatch and both 1v1 and 2v2 duels, and it includes a mix of classic and brand new weapons. If you’re a fan of Id’s other games, you can even play as the Doom series’ Doomslayer and the Wolfenstein series’ B. J. Blazkowicz. The game also recently received a full soundtrack overhaul, courtesy of Brutal Doom composer Andrew Hulshult, because you need some roaring tunes in the background as you blast your opponents apart.
