Summary
Epic Games Storehas quietly scrapped the plans to give away three classicFallouttitles over a seven-day period starting February 22, opting instead to extend that offer toSuper Meat Boy Forever. Such last-minute free game lineup changes are highly unusual forEpic Games Store.
Originally launched in December 2018, theFortnitemaker’s digital storefront has been offering free PC games on a regular basis since its inception. Those promos were initially featured once every two weeks, with Epic subsequently turning them into a weekly event in mid-2019. Every time there’s a week featuring a mature-rated free title, EGS gives away an extra game suitable for all ages alongside it. The practice continues to this day, withEpic Games Store giving away 86 titles—boasting a combined value of over $2,000—in 2023 alone.
On February 15, it was revealed that the nextEpic Games Store free-to-claim promo would feature theFalloutisometric trilogy, comprising the first two mainline installments in the series andFallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. But that lineup was quietly scrapped just two days later, with the EGS home page now listingSuper Meat Boyas the storefront’s fourth free game for February 2024.
Epic Games Store Free Games February 2024
What caused this change of plans is unclear. Epic is not in the habit of putting out announcements reflecting on its individual free game promos, so expecting it to make an exception for a trio of titles that won’t even be treated to a giveaway is a tall order. The rights to theFalloutseries belong to Bethesda, which is itself a subsidiary of Microsoft-owned ZeniMax Media. TheFortnitemaker historically had a good relationship with all of those companies, as underlined by the fact that some of the recentfree promos on Epic Games Store included everything fromFallout 3andThe Elder Scrolls OnlinetoGhostwire: TokyoandDishonored: Death of the Outsider.
Unlike Classic Fallout Titles, Super Meat Boy Forever Was Never Free on Epic Games Store Before
But that’s not to say that this change of plans was necessarily caused by a rift between Epic and Bethesda or ZeniMax. Another possibility is that EGS decided to change its free game lineup in favor of a title that is more likely to attract user interest.
In a vacuum, that could still be the isometricFallouttrilogy, not least because of the lukewarm reception thatSuper Meat Boy Foreverhad received at launch. However, Team Meat’s platformer was never featured in one of the storefront’s promos, whereas all three 2DFalloutgameswere already free to claim on Epic Games Storeback in December 2022. It’s hence possible that Epic decided a 100% discount onSuper Meat Boy Foreverhas the potential to generate a greater volume of user activity over the coming week.
Epic Games Store
A digital video game storefront for Windows PC and macOS created and operated by Epic Games. Originally launched in December 2018, Epic Games Store is both a website and a standalone launcher.
