The Epic Games Store Free Game for December 11 Has to Live Up to the Hype
Just like it has every week since December 2018, the Epic Games Store is offering yet another free game this coming week. But Epic Games Store’s December 11 free game is a tad more special than most.
For the past six years, like clockwork, the Epic Games Store has announced its free game(s) for the following week the moment the current week’s offerings go live. That’s not the case for the December 11 free game. Heading to the Epic Games Store free games page will present users with the currently free The Darkside Detective and The Jackbox Party Pack 4, but next week’s freebie is simply titled “Mystery Game,” and features a placeholder image that suggests fans should tune into The Game Awards on December 11 at 8pm ET. It’s rare for the Epic Games Store to offer a mystery freebie, and it’s even rarer for that mystery game to be tied to an event like The Game Awards. Naturally, the Epic Games Store free game for December 11 has already set a high bar for itself.
The Epic Games Store Free Game for December 11 Needs to Live Up To The Game Awards Hype
The Game Awards has become one of the biggest annual events for the gaming industry. Along with celebrating the best video games the year had to offer, The Game Awards ceremony is packed with new announcements, long-awaited updates, and shocking surprises, all of which have arguably gotten better year-on-year. As such, the hype and expectations surrounding The Game Awards has also grown with each passing year.
By tying itself directly to The Game Awards 2025, the Epic Games Store free December 11 game is also latching onto the general hype surrounding the event, and in turn, that sets a high bar for what players expect from this mystery free game. From the moment Epic Games announced its Game Awards-related giveaway last Thursday, fans have been trying to guess what it could be. Some have theorized that the December 11 EGS free game could be a Game Awards nominee, and there are plenty of PC games to choose from:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Nominated in 12 categories)
- Hades 2 (Nominated in 6 categories)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (Nominated in 5 categories)
- Split Fiction (Nominated in 4 categories)
- Silent Hill f (Nominated in 3 categories)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (Nominated in 3 categories)
- Battlefield 6 (Nominated in 3 categories)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Nominated in 2 categories)
Alternatively, some fans are theorizing that Epic Games Store’s free December 11 game could be a title that’s shown at The Game Awards 2025 and shadow-dropped the same night. For example, some have even theorized that the recent ESRB rating leak for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach could be related to this EGS giveaway, with it suggesting that a PC port could be released soon. Though, of course, that’s purely speculation at this point.
The Epic Games Store Free Game for December 11 Has To Live Up To Past EGS Mystery Giveaways
But it isn’t just the general Game Awards hype that the next Epic Games Store free game needs to live up to; it’s EGS’ own track record. Beginning in December 2019, the Epic Games Store has a yearly tradition of offering around 12 free mystery games daily in the lead up to the new year.
While December 11 is too early to start these annual Epic Games Store holiday celebrations (the free daily mystery games usually start to roll out from December 19/20), the December 11 free game is still a mystery title being offered in December, and thus fans will be expecting a title that falls in line with prior December EGS offerings. While the annual assortment of free mystery games has often been a mixed bag, there have been plenty of heavy hitters included in the bunch each year, such as the following:
- Wolfenstein: The New Order — December 20, 2022
- Metro: Last Light Redux — December 24, 2022
- Death Stranding — December, 25 2022
- The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition — December 25, 2023
- Ghostrunner — December 31, 2023
- Control — December 25, 2024
- Ghostrunner 2 — December 26, 2024
- Sifu — December 31, 2024
By being both a mystery Epic Games Store December giveaway and a Game Awards-related freebie, the Epic Games Store free game for December 11 has set some very high expectations that won’t be easy to meet.