It's become an annual tradition for the Epic Games Store to give away free mystery games in December as a countdown to the new year, and the December 2021 version of the promotion has started. Each day at 10am CT, Epic Games Store users can log in and claim a new free game for their collection, and this year, fans can expect to claim about 15 free Epic Games Store games in total. The first free Epic Games Store mystery game for December 2021 is available to claim right now.
The first free Epic Games Store mystery game leaked ahead of time, so fans have known for a bit that they would be able to get Shenmue 3. Epic Games Store users are reporting some difficulty actually claiming the game, perhaps due to high traffic, and so anyone interested in getting Shenmue 3 for free may have to wait a bit before they're actually able to do so. Hopefully the problem is resolved soon.
For the uninitiated, Shenmue 3 is the third entry in the cult favorite Shenmue franchise, which helped innovate many elements still seen in open world games to this day. Shenmue 3 continues the story of the first two games and the fact that it ever released at all is a small miracle.
Epic Games Store Free Mystery Game
- Shenmue 3 (free until December 17 at 10:00am CT)
The first two Shenmue games were expensive to make and weren't exactly blockbuster hits, resulting in Sega putting the franchise on the shelf for years. Then the creator of Shenmue appeared on stage during PlayStation's E3 2015 press conference to officially announce Shenmue 3, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter. Shenmue 3 released four years later to mixed reviews, with many criticizing it for playing too much like the originals.
Shenmue 3 was made an Epic Games Store exclusive at the time of its release, which drummed up quite a bit of controversy and resulted in Steam users getting refunds. The Shenmue 3 Epic Games Store exclusivity lasted for a year before the game finally made its debut on other PC gaming platforms.
Shenmue 3 may have earned mixed reviews and suffered some backlash for its EGS exclusivity, but it's still much higher profile than the majority of Epic Games Store free games that have released on the service. It sets the tone for the rest of the free Epic Games Store mystery games and it will definitely be interesting to see what else fans have to look forward to in the days ahead.
