How to download paid games for free

Digital distribution services have enabled a rapid evolution of the video game market. Today we have Steam and many other virtual showcases, such as the digital stores of Apple, Google and Microsoft, which allow independent developers to have the right visibility and the largest software houses, those that produce the so-called “triple A” titles, to propose contents at increasingly advantageous prices.

In this scenario, it happens more and more often to find games – even very well known – sold at bargain prices or even given away during special promotions: this is the reason why today I decided to take care of this topic and to show you how to download games paid for free using various digital delivery services, from the most famous to those a little more niche.

Of course, don’t expect to be able to download the latest “triple A” titles at no cost, but if you are looking for good games, perhaps from the recent past and / or belonging to the indie world, you will surely find what is right for you. Let’s start with computer games, then, however, don’t worry, we will also move on to those for smartphones, tablets and consoles. Enjoy your reading and have fun!

Index

• How to download free paid games on PC
  • Microsoft Store
  • Mac App Store
  • Steam
  • Epic Game Store
  • Sites to download free paid games
• How to download free paid games on Android
• How to download free paid games on iOS
• How to download free paid games on consoles

How to download free paid games on PC

As anticipated at the opening of the post, to begin with I would like to show you how to be able to download paid games for free on PC : below you will find explained how to do it both from Windows and from macOS , through the official stores of both operating systems but also through the popular game download platforms and some independent Internet sites.

Microsoft Store

If you are using a PC with Windows 10 installed , you can find free paid games through the Microsoft Store , the virtual store of the Redmond giant, through which you can get applications and games quickly and easily. It includes both free and paid games, with the possibility of taking advantage of promos that allow you to download free titles that would normally be paid (which is why I chose to tell you about them in this guide).

To use it for your purpose, first access the store by clicking on its icon (the one with the shopping bag and the Windows logo ) that you find at the bottom left of the taskbar . Alternatively, type “Microsoft Store” in the search field attached to the Start menu , which you can access by clicking on the button with the Windows flag always placed on the taskbar , and selecting the relevant result.

Once the Microsoft Store window is displayed on the desktop, select the Games tab at the top and start scrolling the displayed screen until you find the Most popular free games section  .

Then click the Show All link to see the full list of free titles available for download. Among these you could also find games that are normally paid in free promotion for a limited period. If you want, you can filter the various games displayed using the Categories drop-down menu at the top. Additional filters are available by clicking on the More Filters button .

However, keep in mind that the most prominent games that are offered for free in promotion are usually indicated in the upper part of the Games section of the Microsoft Store, by means of a special banner.

If you are looking for a particular title and you want to check if it is in free promotion or not, you can carry out a direct search by clicking on the Search item located in the upper right part of the Microsoft Store window, typing the keyword of yours. interest in the appropriate field and pressing the Enter key on the keyboard. If the game you are looking for has become free, you will find it marked Free .

If you find any games that interest you, to proceed with their download, click on their title , on the Get / Install button  and wait for the download and installation procedure to start and complete. Then, click on the Play button to start the game immediately, or call it up from the Start menu , by selecting the relative link just added.

Note: If you have not yet added your Microsoft account to the Microsoft Store, you will be invited to do so after selecting a given game and clicking the Get / Install button , in order to be able to use the chosen title on the other devices to which the same account is possibly linked. To login, click on the Login button and enter the required data. If you don’t care, click on the No Thanks button instead .

Mac App Store

Even MacOS integrates a store dedicated to applications and games: the Mac App Store . Through the latter, you can find apps and games, both free and paid, without having to go through third-party services. I point it out because from time to time some commercial titles are offered for free.

To use it for your purpose, first of all access the Mac App Store by clicking on its icon (the one with the “A” and the blue background ) placed on the Dock bar . Alternatively, you can call up the store using Spotlight , Siri or by going to the Applications folder on your Mac.

Once the Mac App Store window is displayed on the desktop, select the Play item on the left and take a look at the various titles offered on the right. You can easily recognize the free games from the paid ones as there is no price next to the title. Furthermore, the commercial titles in free promotion are usually sponsored through special banners or through dedicated sections.

If you want, you can also search by keyword, typing the name of the game of your interest in the Search field located in the upper left part of the window, pressing the Enter key on the Mac keyboard and consulting the list of relevant results.

When you find a free game that was previously paid and you want to download, click on its title and its Get / Install button . Then authorize the download (if necessary) by typing your Apple ID password or using Touch ID (if the Mac you are using supports this technology).

Alternatively, I point out that from macOS 10.15 Catalina , the Apple Arcade service is available  which, for 4.99 euros / month with a 30-day free trial, allows you to access a catalog consisting of over 100 exclusive games without banners and without purchases. in-app. The service is available for the whole family, therefore accessible up to a maximum of 6 users. More info here .

Steam

Impossible to talk about services to download free paid games on PC without mentioning Steam . Valve’s digital store soon earned the role of market leader thanks to a huge library of titles often sold at bargain prices.

Although you don’t often find paid video games for free, it offers a large selection of free-to-play titles (which have very little or nothing to envy to the paid ones) and, during its famous seasonal sales, offers well-known games to very low prices, not to mention the weekly offers that crowd its catalog.

The Steam client is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. To download it, go to the Steam website and click first on the Install Steam button (top right) and then on Install Steam now .

Once the download is complete, if you are using Windows , open the .exe file obtained, click on the Yes button in the window that is shown on the desktop and press the Next button . Then check the box next to the item relating to the use of Italian , click again on the Next button and complete the setup by pressing the Install and Finish buttons .

On macOS , on the other hand, open the .dmg package obtained and press the Agree button in the window that is shown to you on the desktop. Then proceed to drag the Steam icon into the macOS Applications folder , right click on it and select the Open item from the menu that appears, to start the software bypassing the protections imposed against applications from non-certified developers.

Then, regardless of the operating system used, wait for all the components necessary to run Steam to be downloaded from the Internet and create your account, which is essential to use the service, by pressing the Create a new account button attached to the window displayed and providing the data requested from you.

After logging in to Steam, go to the section dedicated to free-to-play games or to the section dedicated to special offers and consult the various titles in the catalog. If you want, you can also filter the list of titles that is proposed to you by category, by clicking on the menus and labels at the top and / or on the right.

If you want to check if a certain title you already know has been offered for free on Steam, carry out a direct search by typing the keyword of your interest in the appropriate field located at the top. If the game you are looking for has become free, you will easily realize this as you will find it marked with the word Free .

To proceed with the download of the games of your interest, however, all you have to do is click on their name and on the Start game button . To proceed with the installation, then press the Next ,  Accept and Start game buttons . For further information on how Steam works, I refer you to reading my specific guide on this famous platform .

Epic Game Store

Have you ever heard of the Epic Games Store ? No? Strange, he is very famous. In any case, there is no problem: let’s fix it immediately. This is another gaming platform, available for Windows and macOS, through which it is possible to find free and paid games and which every week offers commercial titles in promos at no cost.

To use it, you must first download the Epic Games launcher on your computer: to do so, go to the official website of the platform and click on the Get Epic Games games button , located at the top right.

Once the download is complete, if you are using Windows , open the .msi file obtained and, in the window you see appear on the desktop, click on the Install button . Then press the Yes button twice in succession and wait for the installation procedure to be completed.

If you are using macOS , on the other hand, open the .dmg package obtained and drag the Epic Games launcher icon to the Mac Applications folder . Then right-click on it and select the Open item from the context menu, in order to start the ‘application, however, going around the limitations imposed by Apple on applications from non-certified developers (an operation that must be carried out only at the time of the first execution).

Once the Epic Games launcher window is displayed on the screen, register a free account to be able to use the service by selecting the item Don’t have an Epic Games account? Register at the bottom and filling out the form that is proposed to you with all the necessary information. For more details on what to do, follow the directions in my tutorial on how to create an Epic Games account .

Subsequently, log in to your account through the launcher window, by filling in the appropriate fields visible on the screen and clicking on the Login button . Once logged in, click on the button with horizontal lines located at the top right and select the Shop item from the menu that opens on the left.

At this point, start looking for the games of your interest. The paid ones in free promotion for the week are offered to you at the top, in a special section, while scrolling the screen displayed you can view the additional free-cost titles available, easily recognizable as they are marked with the word Free , among which titles may be hidden which previously were paid.

If you want to check if a paid game whose name you already know is possibly available for free, type its title in the search field at the top and press the Enter key on your computer keyboard.

To download the games you are interested in, select their title and press the Free , Place the order (bottom right) and I agree buttons . Then, click on the button with horizontal lines located at the top right, select the Library item from the menu on the left, click on the Install button next to the name of the chosen game, check the box relating to the acceptance of the contract license ** and press the Accept , Install and Yes buttons  . Then start the game by pressing the appropriate button that you see appear on the screen.

Sites to download free paid games

And now, here are some quick links to some Internet sites that allow you to download paid games for free.

• Wikipedia– the English version of Wikipedia hosts a page listing dozens of commercial games now available for free. There really is something for everyone!
• Abandonia– one of the most important websites in the world dedicated to abandonware, that is to say those games that were once paid but now, with the copyright rights expired, can be downloaded for free. Most of the titles must be played with the DOS DOSBOX emulator (also freely downloadable from the Internet).
• org– Internet site on which there is a vast catalog of digital material of all kinds and at no cost, including old-fashioned PC video games that once were paid (but not only). However, keep in mind that some games are so old that you may have some problems running them on recent operating systems.

How to download free paid games on Android

And on Android ? How do you download paid games for free? All you have to do is rely on the Play store : the virtual store of apps and games made available by Google for smartphones and tablets based on the “green robot” mobile platform. There are many contents, both free and at no cost, and, of course, sometimes commercial games are offered for free, through special offers.

To use it, take your device, unlock it, access the drawer (the Android screen where the icons of all the apps are grouped) and tap the Play Store icon (the one with the multicolored triangle ).

In the screen that will be shown to you, select the Games item located at the top, tap on the words Categories that you find in the menu always located at the top of the screen and choose the category of your interest from those available in the proposed list, to browse the various games belonging to the genre of your interest. Unfortunately, there is no filter to view only free games, but you can distinguish them from paid games as they are not marked by price.

Alternatively, you can view the list of games by rankings, by tapping on the Rankings item that you always find at the top of the Play Store screen, selecting the section of your interest from those available and scrolling through the lists.

If you want to check if a paid game you already knew has become free, do a direct search by typing the name of the latter in the appropriate bar at the top of the screen.

When you find a game that interests you, to download it to your PC, click on its name and on the Install button . Once the download and installation procedure is complete, start the title by pressing the Open button or by tapping on its icon that has been added to the drawer .

To more easily find the games available at no cost for a limited time, you can also rely on apps that take care of reporting the paid content on a free offer . Personally, I suggest you try  AppSales , Freapp , Free Paid Apps for a limited time and  App Hoarder . They all work in the same way: once started, they show the list of contents on offer and by selecting them you can directly access the relevant section on the Play Store.

And if the Play Store does not satisfy you, you can try to take a look at the alternative stores available for Android devices, on which paid apps and games are often offered for free. To do this, however, you need to enable support for unknown sources on your device, as I explained to you in my guide dedicated to how to install APK .

As interesting as it may seem, however, keep in mind that this is a practice to be performed with caution, as downloading applications from external sources compared to the Play Store can increase the risk of encountering malware and other cyber threats that could compromise the correct functioning of the device. That said and if you still want to rely on third-party stores, below you will find listed those that I believe to be the most interesting in the category.

• Amazon AppStore– is the Amazon store, as the name implies. It allows you to download many apps and games in a totally safe and free way.
• APKMirror– famous alternative store for Android managed by AndroidPolice, a well-known website in the international Android community. It only offers safe and verified content.
• AppBrain– another alternative store to download apps and games for Android. Note that it allows you to track downloaded apps and games to find out the availability of any similar content.
• TorrApk– alternative store designed primarily for low-end devices, as it allows you to download the APK files of applications that, according to Google’s guidelines, do not meet the requirements necessary to be installed on devices belonging to this category .

If the solutions mentioned above did not allow you to download apps that are interesting for you, you can consider Google Play Pass : a subscription service from Google which, for 4.99 euros / month (29.99 euros / year) with a free trial of 1 month, it allows you to download hundreds of apps and games without ads or in-app purchases , with the possibility of sharing them in your family group, up to a maximum of five people. For all the details, consult the official website .

How to download free paid games on iOS

Now let’s see how to download any paid games that have become free on iPhone and iPad . In this case, you can rely on the App Store , the virtual store of applications and games made available by Apple for its users. There you will find many games at no cost, as well as countless paid titles that, from time to time, are offered for free, through special offers.

To take advantage of the App Store, take your device, unlock it, access the home screen and tap on the store icon (the one with the “A” and the blue background ). In the main screen of the App Store that you now see, select the Games item located at the bottom, locate the Top free games section by scrolling the page and tap on the words See all .

In the new screen displayed, you will be able to view the complete list of free games available, including titles that until a few hours ago were offered for a fee. If you want, you can filter them by categories by tapping on the All games item located at the top right and selecting the genre you are interested in.

Do you already know the title of a paid game and want to find out if by chance it became free? To do this, tap on the Search item located at the bottom right and type the keyword of your interest in the appropriate box.

When you find a game you want to download, tap the Get / Install button next to it and authorize the download via Face ID , Touch ID or Apple ID password . Then start the game by pressing the Open button that appeared on the screen or by selecting the relative icon added to the home screen .

The Apple Arcade service is also available on iOS  which, for 4.99 euros / month with a 30-day free trial, allows you to access a catalog of over 100 games without banners or in-app purchases. More info here .

I also point out that even with regard to iOS there are applications that allow you to find the games on offer for free on the App Store. Among others, I suggest you try appsGratis  and AppGratuita . Their operation is very simple: once started, they show a list of apps and games that can be downloaded for free temporarily and by pressing on their name you can access the relevant section on the digital store of the Cupertino company.

How to download free paid games on consoles

Do you own a PS4 , an Xbox One or another console and would you like to understand if, even in this case, there is a system to download paid games for free? The answer, I am happy to give it to you, is affirmative. In fact, on the stores of the various consoles there are sometimes zero-cost intentions for titles that are normally paid.

Before explaining how to find them, however, check that you have connected the console you are using to the Internet , using the relevant settings menu . For example, if you are using a PS4, you can do this by going to Settings> Network> Set up Internet connection and acting on the screen displayed. For more details, please refer to my tutorial on  how to play PS4 online , while if you own an Xbox you can read my post on  how to connect to Xbox Live .

Once this is done, go to the console’s default virtual store and try to identify any banners through which paid titles are offered as an exception. To download them, select and press the button to proceed with the download .

Alternatively, try looking in the sections of the store you are interested in dedicated specifically to free games, among the various titles listed you may also find games that were previously paid or, again, search by genre or by title . When free, the games are marked with the word Free .

For example, if you are using a PS4, after connecting to the PlayStation Store , selecting the shopping bag icon , to carry out a direct search, write the title of the game you are interested in in the search field at the top, while if you want to view games by category select the Gender item in the left sidebar and choose the category you prefer in the new screen displayed. For more details, you can refer to my specific guide on  how to download free games on PS4 , while if you are using an Xbox you can read my post on  how to download free games on Xbox One .

I would also like to point out that to play online on PS4 and Xbox One it is necessary, respectively, to subscribe to the PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold services , which however new users can try at no cost for a limited period of time and that they also entitle you to free downloads of games that are normally paid for every month. For all the details of the case, I refer you to reading my guides on how to play online on PS4 and how to play online on Xbox One .