The following paid games are bought once, and then without players spending another cent, they receive tons of new updates and content for years.
While many great paid DLCs out there are well worth their cost, there’s nothing better in gaming than free updates packed full of new content. Some games are free-to-play, but rely on microtransactions and DLC to thrive, while others cost money in the first place, and then have paid expansions on top. However, some games are bought once and receive free content updates for years, at no additional cost.
In some cases, this is because the game needs to remain the same for all online players, such as those with persistent worlds. In other cases, the best games with free updates are labors of love with the player experience at heart.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky infamously had a very poor launch, but in the years since, Hello Games has released free update after free update, turning it into the premier space exploration game. This redemption arc has earned the studio tonnes of respect, especially as the game has been in a great spot for a few years now, and yet the free updates never stop.
Even while working on their next game, Light No Fire, any new tech they come up with gets fed back into No Man’s Sky, meaning the game looks and plays like it was released just yesterday. Some of the standout updates include the ability to build and fly Corvette ships, a rework of underwater exploration, and the introduction of sprawling NPC settlements. These are just a few examples, and only players who were there in the beginning will appreciate how far the game has come.
Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid is over a decade old, doesn’t cost too much, and yet still receives large updates for free, technically still finding itself in Early Access. In this brutal zombie survival game, players aren’t expected to live for long, but while alive, characters have traits, skills, and both mental and physical health.
