The Epic Games Store has officially announced the return of its much-anticipated mystery game promotion, which is to kick off next week on December 11. This particular free game offering is a special deviation from the platform’s normal weekly schedule, as it is purposely timed to coincide with The Game Awards 2025 ceremony. This was a deliberate tactic-the giveaway is designed to follow in the powerful shadow of the industry’s biggest awards show, suggesting that, for whatever reason, the unreleased title will be something like a major nominee, an old winner, or otherwise very much a part of the broadcast event.
While there is a general time schedule of 11 AM ET for the Epic Games Store to refresh its set of free titles, this particular promotion will debut much later in the day. It is currently indicated on the EGS website that the giveaway starts at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET on December 11 with the start time being exactly thirty minutes after that of The Game Awards. Such unusual timing rekindles a favorite old practice of this storefront, in which the title of the free product remains absolutely unknown till the very moment it is made available for acquire. And the use of the placeholder image of the event including The Game Awards logo signifies such a co-promotion effort. Presently listed, only one mystery title is anticipated; however, the platform has always expanded such promotions toward several major giveaways during holiday or industry occasions.
Meanwhile, users of the Epic Games Store can lay their hands on two completely different software experiences before advent of the mystery on December 11. Free game rotation in this period, that is December 4 to 11, has included full-fledged party game collection The Jackbox Party Pack 4 and a singular point-and-click adventure title, The Darkside Detective. The former contains five different types of party games designed for multiple players and is the first time for one of the very popular Jackbox series titles to be offered as free since the first game was featured back in 2019. On the contrary, The Darkside Detective has a fully single-player, satirical experience weaving science fiction, horror, and pop culture together in a distinctly received pixel art aesthetic.
The differentiating hallmark about the platform since launch has been its continuous provision of a somewhat weekly free offering, drawing even more new users while keeping engagement levels high. This particular promotion aligned with TGA represents a level of greater engagement with a major event in the industry, creating some tension and speculation among the gaming fraternity about the specific, high-value title that Epic Games has secured for the giveaway. Official revelation expected to come on December 11 should be a real finale to a year characterized by consistent, quality offering from the storefront.
