GamersGate Offering Free Ad-Based PC/Mac Games

GamersGate is launching a new service in the fall that allows PC gamers to play for free after watching advertisements.

Wednesday digital distribution service GamersGate announced the upcoming launch of FreeGames, a free-to-play ad-supported platform for PC and Mac titles. The new site will allow users to download, install and play up to five titles at once free of charge, but are required to watch a short advertisement at the launch of the game.

"The new service offers the best of both worlds for both gamers and publishers,"said Theodore Bergquist, CEO at GamersGate. "Gamers can play games for free, catch up on franchises or try a game out before they buy. Publishers will receive ad revenue while expanding their audience. We’ve always been at the forefront of the digital delivery business and I’m confident that our new service will help reshape the industry."

GamersGate currently offers over 3,000 titles including the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Darkspore, Dragon Age 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2 and loads more. GamersGate expects that a large portion of its current library will be available in the ad-supported model for the September launch.

As seen here, the FreeGames website features a countdown timer and a place to sign up for the beta. There's also indication that users will have an option to add additional games on top of the 5-title limit (a monthly all-you-can-eat subscription perhaps?), but specific details are not provided. GamersGate will either reveal more this week at E3 2011, or announce the available games list closer to the platform's launch.

You need to be logged to post a comment

There are 20 Comments. B

Top Comments

15

internetlad , June 9, 2011 7:59 AM

I'll stick with Steam, thanks. Commercials are the reason I don't watch TV, Movies, look at billboards, go outside or open my blinds during the day.
11

hunter315 , June 9, 2011 7:44 AM

Sooo i start up a game, make a sandwich, and play like normal?

Sounds promising, but there has to be a bigger catch.

Other Comments

11

hunter315 , June 9, 2011 7:44 AM

Sooo i start up a game, make a sandwich, and play like normal?

Sounds promising, but there has to be a bigger catch.
3

joshyboy82 , June 9, 2011 7:57 AM

yeah, they harvest your info when you create a login.
15

internetlad , June 9, 2011 7:59 AM

I'll stick with Steam, thanks. Commercials are the reason I don't watch TV, Movies, look at billboards, go outside or open my blinds during the day.
2

BirdzThaWord , June 9, 2011 8:04 AM

If this is truly how it sounds, then it is going to be amazing.
9

someguynamedmatt , June 9, 2011 8:12 AM

If that's all there was to it, then this could be great. But I can almost guarantee you that when you sign up for this, you'll have spam being shoved in and out of places you didnt even know you had.
0

anonymous@guest , June 9, 2011 8:19 AM

Sounds good for the games I don't want to pay for, I have a spam email so they can have at it.
1

alidan , June 9, 2011 8:48 AM

soo... no need to pirate...if they come drm free im all for this. i can handle a minute long commercial every level.
1

BirdzThaWord , June 9, 2011 11:00 AM

I just noticed something, what about multiplayer? Will these games come with their own encrypted product key or something? Because if it's only singleplayer that would be very disappointing
0

eddieroolz , June 9, 2011 11:01 AM

Might as well, if it gives me a washroom break before playing.
1

arlandi , June 9, 2011 11:14 AM

hmm... i may have to create a new email account just for trying this. as long as their service is open to everyone around the world, i'm in.
2

rohitbaran , June 9, 2011 1:01 PM

Well, unless they are installing trojans and spyware in my PC, I am fine with watching advertizements and playing games. But then, things are never that simple, are they?
0

gerchokas , June 9, 2011 4:53 PM

rohitbaranWell, unless they are installing trojans and spyware in my PC, I am fine with watching advertizements and playing games. But then, things are never that simple, are they?

dont matter. new win7 partition to take on the crap, new e-mail service to handle the spam, new identity to spend 23hrs a day of hardcore playing
0

nebun , June 9, 2011 7:27 PM

joshyboy82yeah, they harvest your info when you create a login.

and? it's still your decision on how much info you give them...or how much of it is actually true
1

WR2 , June 9, 2011 8:11 PM

No thank you.
1

doorspawn , June 9, 2011 10:46 PM

If all the money we spent on advertising was spent on productivity we'd be soooo far ahead of where we are now.

Not to mention, we'd be far better at selecting products on their actual value.

So, NTY for me, too. And Gratz to whoever writes the 1st ad-block for this.
-1

doorspawn , June 9, 2011 11:23 PM

As for being DRM free - solo play will likely require a net connection to download the ads.
0

macewrox , June 10, 2011 1:32 AM

This sounds pretty good honestly, what they should do is have a little survey thing when you sign up, "What are you interested, choose 10." And have a list of like two to three dozen options to choose from. That way I'll be watching hardware and video game commercials instead of ones for prozac and tampons.
-2

NuclearShadow , June 10, 2011 2:56 AM

Quote:
GamersGate currently offers over 3,000 titles including the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Darkspore, Dragon Age 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2 and loads more.

The way that this is written seems to suggest all those games have not been released yet that were mentioned by name which of course most of those are. Either this was a strange fluke or this was written before the release of some of those games and posted now. Which would suggest this article is more of a advertisement.

BirdzThaWordI just noticed something, what about multiplayer? Will these games come with their own encrypted product key or something? Because if it's only singleplayer that would be very disappointing

In this situation what I would aim for is dealing with all future releases that have multi-player is to have newly generated and expiring keys that expire every month. This way the service isn't simply used to harvest working keys to be given, used, or sold.
0

anonymous@guest , June 10, 2011 6:19 AM

pclives.info

well waiting for this game i luv nuke 3d........
0

fir_ser , June 14, 2011 6:18 AM

Very interesting service, hope more details will come soon.