Batman Mega-Giveaway Proves Epic Games Isn’t Evil After All
The Epic Games Store is giving away six free Batman games this week? Maybe the controversial Steam rival isn't evil after all. | Source: Epic Games Store
Batman takes center stage for this week’s bundle of free games from the Epic Games Store.
Epic Games is giving users of its beleaguered store the chance to pick no less than six games; the acclaimed Batman Arkham Collection and a trio of Batman-themed Lego titles.
- Arkham Asylum
- Arkham City
- Arkham Knight
- Lego Batman: The Videogame
- Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
It’s not a bad haul by any standard, and they are absolutely free, to anyone, forever.
Quality Free Games and Developer-Boosting Exclusivity
With titles such as the hypnotically challenging platformer Celeste, surreal puzzle title The Witness, and serene aquatic exploration game Abzu, Epic has recently been cranking up the quality of the free games.
It’s a shrewd move that, despite claims that it is only doing this to attract users – which it clearly is doing – bolsters a growing sense that Epic isn’t all that evil from the gamer point of view.
Yes, the pitfalls of exclusivity are worth considering, primarily as we’ve grown cripplingly accustomed to Steam for our digital gaming needs.
But giving out free games that people genuinely want to play and helping developers with financial guarantees in exchange for exclusivity doesn’t sound all that nefarious.
For struggling developers, the Epic Games Store is a boon that could be the difference between keeping the lights on and shutting down entirely. For gamers, the store offers a weekly stash of excellent games for nothing.
The Epic Games Store Needs Work But Isn’t All That Bad
The Epic Games Store needs work; it lacks user-friendly functionality and struggles to implement basic features like pre-loading, neither of which are insurmountable hurdles.
Whether we should lambast and even boycott the store for these perceived slights is an increasingly difficult position to maintain given the awful lot of good it is doing in tandem.
Epic Games is looking less and less like a demonic force here to ransack the gaming landscape as it’s oft-portrayed, and it’s high time we start giving the Epic Game Store a chance to prove itself.
Six free Batman games is a compelling first step.
