Becoming a gaming content creator can be an exciting and expensive endeavor. Even more affordable games can start to add up, for creators that are new too the industry. This can put creators in the red financially, and force many out of the space. However, there are ways for both gaming enthusiasts and content creators to get hundreds of free games, with no strings attached.
Note: As of writing this ChromaGlitch does not have any affiliations with any of the following sites or game launchers, these are just sites/launchers we frequently use.
Epic Games Store
The Epic Games store has a lot of free-to-play games, that are automatically added to your library when you make an account. Gamers can also get hundreds of free AAA and indie games, by regularly checking the rotating free games section on the Epic Games Store.
This section refreshes every Thursday, and during some seasonal periods daily, and enables players to get a game that usually costs money for free. By checking this section every Thursday and during special periods daily, gamers can easily build up their games library over time with games such as The Last Stand: Aftermath, Fallout: New Vegas, My Time At Portia, Control, and many more.
Amazon Games & Prime Gaming
Amazon also has a game launcher, Amazon Games, and while it may not always have new titles players can still get a lot of different games by using it. The free games catalog refreshes monthly, and gamers have the entire month to claim any games added to the catalog.
Creators and gamers with existing Amazon Prime benefits can also claim free game keys through Prime Gaming. Prime Gaming can be accessed from the Amazon Games launcher (it will redirect to a webpage). These game keys will sometimes work on other platforms such as the Epic Game Store, GOG.com, and more. These games each vary on how long players have to claim them.
Steam
Steam has a little under 5,000 free-to-play games available in English currently available. Steam and Publishers constantly run sales and bundles on the platform that occasionally have certain games available for free. Many games also have free demo versions of games that let players try them before committing to purchasing them.
Itch.io
Another great site to find free indie games is Itch.io. There are a little under 1 million free-to-play games available on the platform. These games include browser games, downloadable games, TTRPGs, print-n-play games, and more. Even some paid games have the option to purchase a game for free, and then players can come back later and buy the game to support the developer. This option is great, because sometimes players have to take care of things like rent but still want to try a new game, and once they have the funds they can still support the creator.
GOG.com
GOG.com is another website that has over 700 free games available on the platform. Other sites such as Prime Gaming also give out game keys for use on GOG.com. There are a lot of games on the site that also go on sale frequently.
These are just a few of the platforms and sites gamers can use to get games for free on PC. The resources listed above can be used by content creators or just gaming enthusiasts, without any requirements for accepting game keys (outside of standard Terms of Service). There are services for content creators to request keys to cover on their channels, however, these typically have strict requirements and agreements and should not be used as a way to just “get free games.”
Key Request Services
There are plenty of key request services that gaming content creators can use to reach out to developers and publishers of games they would like to cover. Most key request services require content creators to connect their choice platforms (i.e. Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, etc) to track their analytics to decide who gets keys for what.
Once content creators set up accounts and sync their analytics, developers, and publishers can reach out through these platforms and offer keys. An important thing to note about requesting keys is that a creator must post their coverage of any games they accept (with the exception of keys offered through a play-then-decide system). If a creator does not submit the promised content, they can be removed from these platforms, and people talk in the industry.
A list of key request platforms and publishers that have influencer request forms for content creators on their website, that we have used in the past:
This is by no means an extensive list of key request platforms many PR agencies keep their in-house lists of creators to contact with opportunities. PR representatives will often put out a social media post on any platforms they use requesting creators submit their emails and channel names to be added to their outreach efforts.
ChromaGlitch 
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