The best free games on PC accounted for, these are our top-rated titles that don’t cost a thing.
According to the Beatles, money can’t buy you love – and it’s true for the best free games as well. In a time when even your Steam library can be graced with a free AAA game, and Xbox and PlayStation have created a free game ecosystem with Games for Gold and PlayStation Plus – the best PC games have to take a unique approach.
There are still a ton of free games out there on Steam, GOG and even (get ready) Origin, thanks to the occasional freebie and the runaway popularity of free-to-play games.
From Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing games like Wildstar to collectible card games like Hearthstone, the best free games cover a wide span of different styles and genres. Plus, since we’ve invested plenty of time (maybe even too much time) into these games, you can be confident that these games will be worth yours.
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Remember that science-fiction MMO shooter from a few years ago? No, we’re not talking about Destiny. Instead, we’re talking about Defiance, a game that its developers would likely argue went underappreciated as well as being indisputably unpopular. It’s not that Defiance wasn’t a good game. In fact, it was fun, but it couldn’t quite find its footing in the middle of everything that was going on when it originally launched in 2013.
Now the video game-turned-Syfy original series is coming back for seconds, complete with a brand new name, better graphics and an all-new story that wants to suck you in 20 years after the events of the first game. It’s coming to Steam with the nominal price point of free ninety nine and includes upgraded textures in addition to higher resolutions and frame rates. It’s also coming to consoles, but not without paying extra close attention to the PC platform that made it (somewhat) famous.
The Defiance 2050 had a quick closed beta in April 2018, and it will probably run again in the very near future, as we still don’t have a solid release date. If you’re interested, though, we’d advise that you head over to the closed beta sign-up page to be reminded of its release when it eventually happens.
The Battle Royale trend is huge right now, and Epic Games has all but perfected it with Fortnite Battle Royale. Initially developed as a sort of add-on for Fortnite, Battle Royale took of in a way that nobody was anticipating, quickly becoming one of the most played games in the world in 2018.
The game is entirely based around a simple scenario: you’re dumped in a map with 99 other players in a free-for-all melee, and the only winner is the one who is left standing at the end. And, no matter how many similarities it may draw to games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale carves its own identity with its colorful art style, personality and accessible gameplay.
Sure, there are microtransactions, but they’re all cosmetic and have no bearing on gameplay. But, what’s more important – you’ll never run out of people to play with, as cross-play between Xbox One and, soon, iOS users will match you up against millions of different people.
The Dota universe may have derived from a Wacraft 3 mod, but Dota 2 is very much its own entity, not to mention one of the most popular free-to-play games.
This top-down arena battler is incredibly active, attracting multi-million dollar prize funds for serious tournament players. It’s not just for obsessives, though.
A brief tutorial now points out the ropes, with the Steam Community stepping in to provide guides to the original MOBA. Don’t expect a warm welcome or easy learning curve from its sophisticated gameplay mechanics, but bring a few friends and Dota 2 will have you hooked on one of the biggest crazes in PC history.
Two years before Destiny dropped into orbit, we had Planetside 2. It’s an epic, all-out first-person battle so unbelievable, you’ll have to pinch yourself every time you load it up to remind yourself it’s completely free. There are in-game purchases, sure, but you can still dive into the biggest battlefield in gaming and be useful with the default equipment.
There’s simply nothing like taking part in a massed assault on an enemy base and coming out on top, or living in a world where an enemy convoy could appear on the horizon at any second. If you need any proof that ‘free’ doesn’t mean uninspired, Planetside 2 will provide it.
Path of Exile is a free dungeon crawler in the style of Diablo III, and it’s a bit different than most free games out there. It’s not just about fragging real-life people until they scream at you in shrill pubescent tones through their Skype headsets.
It moves a bit more slowly than the typical multiplayer blaster, but if you give it time, you may just fall in love with this loot gathering hit – it’s really the best free game for Diablo addicts. There are hidden depths that you can uncover after playing for hours, and a huge skill tree to slowly pick away at. There are no game-ruining issues like real-money auction houses here, either.
Instead, even basic loot can be useful because there’s always an opportunity to enhance even the simplest weapon with magic. If you got tired of the grind of Diablo III, it’s a good one to check out.
Choose a champion and head into battle in this seminal free-to-play game from the creators of the Warcraft III mod, Dota. League of Legends’ automated matchmaking, diverse cast of characters and pristine maps have made it a multiplayer behemoth over the last few years, and one that will certainly stand the test of time.
It’s an aggressive gameplay experience, but one that rewards good teamwork and careful tactics. You won’t master it overnight, but you’ll be having fun shortly after you hit that ‘play’ button.
Like Dota 2, League of Legends attracts many high-end players, and the top tournaments offer prize pools of over $1 million. The weird world of e-sports, eh?
Ever played Magic the Gathering, the card game? Hearthstone is Blizzard’s attempt at making an online free-to-play alternative to it.
And in typical Blizzard fashion, it’s excellent. It’s immediately inviting, lacking the terrifying learning curve you might expect from an online fantasy card game. Hearthstone plays quickly, boasts a very casual visual approach, and benefits from a basic rule set, all of which adds up to a very accessible card battler that will give you hours of enjoyment.
Despite being accessible, it’s still quite challenging as well, especially if you’re up against an opponent that plays their cards right.
Taking over from the original Star Wars MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies in 2011, Star Wars: The Old Republic was not free at release at first. But it has since, like so many games of this kind, adopted the free-to-play model. If you want to get Sith kicks, this is the best way to get them for free.
Keep in mind though, that subscriptions are still available, and will give you more in-game potential and end-game content. All the story missions, however, are still available for free – it just might take a bit longer now.
It’s worth your time just to see the Star Wars universe from different sets of eyes, like the hyper-professional Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter. If you want to go with the dull option and just have a generic Jedi Knight, though – you can totally do that.
When Xbox head Phil Spencer said he was going to bring the console’s best franchises to the PC, he wasn’t joking around. Among these notable series is Forza Motorsport.
Shunned by petrol-heads and embraced by gamers, Forza Motorsport may seem like an arcadey offshoot of its biggest rival on PlayStation, but it consistently looks and feels superb nonetheless.
Apex in particular brings a complete Forza Motorsport game to PC players for the first time. Though it’s free-to-play, there is additional content that can be downloaded for a modest price. While it’s not quite the full-fledged experience you can expect on Xbox One, with support for 4K screens and racing wheels, Forza Motorsport 6 Apex is the free-to-play twist we’ve been craving from Microsoft’s long-standing racing series.
Rare’s classic fighting series Killer Instinct may not be the household name it once was, but the ability to play one character for free is enticing nonetheless.
What’s more, characters can be purchased a la carte as downloadable content, which means you don’t have to shell out a wad of cash unnecessarily for characters you’ll never play. And, for the Xbox fans out there, this game is essentially Microsoft’s equivalent of Super Smash Bros. and PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale since you can pick up numerous Xbox mascots. These include Arbiter (Halo), Rash (Battletoads) and General RAAM (Gears of War) in addition to a growing catalog of Killer Instinct-specific characters.
While Killer Instinct isn’t as popular with the Fighting Game Community, there is a certain novelty of being able to control these classic Xbox-derived characters, and on PC at that.
World of Tanks is a different kind of MMO – the clue being in the title. Team-based, massively multiplayer action with a huge range of war machines to drive into battle awaits, with new players able to join the action immediately.
An upgrade system adds a sense of personalization, while being surrounded by a whole army constantly reminds you that loners don’t do well on the battlefield. Get sucked in, though, and you may find you end up spending a chunk of your wages on great big chunks of virtual metal.
While some premium tanks cost just a few dollars, others are more expensive. You can see where maker Wargaming is going to earn some cash from World of Tanks enthusiasts.
Think World of Tanks is a bit too arcade-like for your tastes? You need to try out the free game War Thunder. Despite being lesser-known, it’s a great alternative to that tank battler. And for an extra sweetener, it throws airplanes into the mix too. As you might expect, they’re a great deal of fun.
With a fast enough PC, War Thunder offers visual quality you don’t see too often in free-to-play games. You will need to pay some cash to get hold of the more interesting planes and tanks early on, but getting Battlefield-like play for free sounds like a good deal to us.
There are arcade and historical battles on offer – the former is great for a more casual blast while historical battles are more for players with a few hours on their flight card.
Though its future was briefly uncertain after the sale of Sony’s online entertainment division in February 2015, Everquest has returned better than ever with new expansion packs and continued support by Daybreak Game Company.
The first of its kind to commercially succeed with a 3D game engine, Everquest was released in 1999 as an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and has since been documented as one of the most important games in the medium’s history.
Featuring consistently released expansion packs (quite massive in scale, at least early on) with vast new areas, races and classes, Everquest brings to the table just about everything you would expect from an MMO – plus it’s notably better at handling co-op than its alternatives.
Originally hailed as the game that would finally dethrone World of Warcraft, Rift had its moment – and is still going strong depending who’s talking. It brought innovation to a genre that was changing very slowly, letting you change your class whenever you felt like it.
The whole game is focused on separating giant boss battles and events that occupy entire zones. It’s ambitious, exciting and huge with a dozen interdimensional rifts that keep things fresh and unique from other games in the genre.
Plus, you can ride on a landshark.
Runescape is one of the biggest free-to-play MMOs out there, and now would be a good time to take a look. In 2013 it entered its third reboot – this is actually ‘Runescape 3’, although just jumping in now you might not appreciate it has been around in one form or another for more than 10 years.
It’s certainly not the shiniest MMO in the world despite the revamp, but hanging onto this many players shows it’s doing something right. The big change introduced in Runescape 3 that made it appear a lot more modern was the ability to see much further – in Runescape 2 the horizon quickly gave way to fog. Not so now.
You can download the game for free or run it in your browser using Java, making it much more convenient than most other online role-players of this epic scale.
If the bleak appearance adopted by the typical MMORPG is a turn-off for you, you’ll be delighted to see that Maplestory takes the traditional art style of the genre and turns it on its head. Described by Nexon as the original 2D side-scrolling MMO, Maplestory takes the classic Dungeons & Dragons-inspired genre and makes it kawaii.
The lighter tone and customization of Maplestory makes it feel more like Harvest Moon than World of Warcraft or Rift. It’s also more focused on improving cosmetics than many other MMOs, allowing players much more control over how their characters look.
There’s even in-game weddings and dinosaurs that play guitar. Really, the only thing Maplestory is missing is an Oasis-composed soundtrack.
If you’re into third-person co-operative shooters, Warfarme is one of the best free games out there. Players take control of members of the Tenno, an ancient race at war with enemies such as the Grineer, the Corpus, the Infested and the Sentients. Your Tenno soldier uses the Crysis-style Warframe armor equipped with guns or melee weapons to fight back.
Better looking than your average free-to-play shooter, much fun can be had in Warframe’s player-vs-enemy raids — so much so that some gamers see it as, «The Destiny that never was». High praise indeed.
Gods from every pantheon come together in Smite to battle it out in a free Dota/MOBA inspired clash. Even though Smite wears its influences on its sleeve, it comes from the same developer that made the FPS smash Tribes Ascend – a completely different beast.
The camera is behind the characters this time, making for a more direct connection to the action than simply guiding your lord around with a mouse, but the premise will be either familiar if you’ve played its inspirations, or a way to get the feel for the style if you haven’t. Gods include Zeus, Thor, Kali, Artemis and… Cupid? Well, at least he has his own bow…
There are so many MMOs that have been launched or relaunched as free-to-play games, but Lord of the Rings Online is one of the titles that most warrants a second look. Not only is it an excellent game in its own right, it’s one of the more mature MMOs on the market.
You’ll probably have to pay eventually, if only to unlock adventure packs, but there’s no subscription fee and nothing to buy up front. If you missed it at launch, or even if you quit playing since then, it’s time to give it a try.
Without seeing more than a few screenshots, you might think Wildstar is a new IP from Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games. It’s colorful and cartoony enough to sit alongside the same catalog as Spyro, but this is no casual free-to-play MMO, which may be the reason it didn’t do as well as expected sales-wise.
If you like Blizzard games, such as World of Warcraft, Wildstar will undoubtedly quench your thirst since many of its developers at Carbine Studios came from the beloved Activision Blizzard studio.
While it wasn’t exactly the “next evolution of the modern MMORPG” that Carbine wanted it to be, Wildstar holds its own as a traditional MMO with challenging and unique PvE content that, before launching as a free-to-play title, had a unique subscription model based on actual player progress – along with beautiful stylized graphics.
In 2003, Icelandic developer CCP Games unleashed Eve Online, an immersive and in-depth “sci-fi experience” that would eventually garner the attention of well over 500,000 players. Eve Online is unlike any game in its category, thanks to the vast range of activities to take part in as well as its (appropriately) out of this world in-game economy.
