Highlights
- Until September 29 at 3:00pm CEST, Steam users can potentially get The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan for free through a Bandai Namco giveaway.
- Steam games are not regularly given away for free like on the Epic Games Store and are usually dependent on publishers to make them free.
- The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is the first entry in a horror franchise from Supermassive Games and there are three additional games available on Steam.
Until September 29 at 3:00pm CEST, Steam users have the chance to get The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan for free. Steam doesn't give away free games at nearly the same rate that its chief competitor, the Epic Games Store, does. Whereas new Epic Games Store free games are available on a weekly basis, free Steam games are completely random and largely dependent on the publishers to make them free, as opposed to Steam itself.
Sometimes free Steam games can be claimed directly through the store. Other times, Steam users have to jump through some hoops to get free games on the platform. So is the case with the latest free Steam game. Not only is time running out to claim it, but Steam users are not necessarily guaranteed access to the game.
Currently, Steam users can navigate to the Bandai Namco website, register for an account, and potentially get sent a free code for The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan on Steam. Technically, this Steam free game giveaway is through Bandai Namco Europe, and only 100,000 keys are being given away. Therefore, some Steam users may not be able to get the free game, even if they make an account.
For those unfamiliar with the game, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is the first entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology horror franchise from Supermassive Games, the studio best known for Until Dawn. Man of Medan is very similar to Until Dawn in that it is essentially a playable movie, with player choice changing the direction of the story and deciding the fate of the main characters. Man of Medan earned mixed reviews compared to Until Dawn, but it still successfully launched a horror franchise for Supermassive that's going strong to this day.
Anyone that's lucky enough to get The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan for free through this giveaway and enjoy the game may want to consider checking out its sequel. There are three additional Dark Pictures games available on Steam at the time of this writing, with Man of Medan followed up by Little Hope, House of Ashes, and The Devil in Me. A new sci-fi horror Dark Pictures game is in the works as well.
Some Steam users will inevitably be unable to claim The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan for free through this Bandai Namco giveaway, but not all hope is lost. There should be more free Steam game giveaways in the months ahead, so users on the platform just need to keep an eye out for more opportunities.