Epic Games Store Replaces Fallout Titles with Different February 22 Free Game

17.02.2024 - 13:33 / gamerant.com / Dominik Bo

Epic Games Store has quietly scrapped the plans to give away three classic Fallout titles over a seven-day period starting February 22, opting instead to extend that offer to Super Meat Boy Forever. Such last-minute free game lineup changes are highly unusual for Epic Games Store.

Originally launched in December 2018, the Fortnite maker's digital storefront has been offering free PC games on a regular basis since its inception. Those promos were initially featured once every two weeks, with Epic subsequently turning them into a weekly event in mid-2019. Every time there's a week featuring a mature-rated free title, EGS gives away an extra game suitable for all ages alongside it. The practice continues to this day, with Epic Games Store giving away 86 titles—boasting a combined value of over $2,000—in 2023 alone.

On February 15, it was revealed that the next Epic Games Store free-to-claim promo would feature the Fallout isometric trilogy, comprising the first two mainline installments in the series and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. But that lineup was quietly scrapped just two days later, with the EGS home page now listing Super Meat Boy as the storefront's fourth free game for February 2024.

What caused this change of plans is unclear. Epic is not in the habit of putting out announcements reflecting on its individual free game promos, so expecting it to make an exception for a trio of titles that won't even be treated to a giveaway is a tall order. The rights to the Fallout series belong to Bethesda, which is itself a subsidiary of Microsoft-owned ZeniMax Media. The Fortnite maker historically had a good relationship with all of those companies, as underlined by the fact that some of the recent free promos on Epic Games Store included everything from Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls Online to Ghostwire: Tokyo and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.

But that's not to say that this change of plans was necessarily caused by a rift between Epic and Bethesda or ZeniMax. Another possibility is that EGS decided to change its free game lineup in favor of a title that is more likely to attract user interest.

In a vacuum, that could still be the isometric Fallout trilogy, not least because of the lukewarm reception that Super Meat Boy Forever had received at launch. However, Team Meat's platformer was never featured in one of the storefront's promos, whereas all three 2D Fallout games were already free to claim on Epic Games Store back in December 2022. It's hence possible that Epic decided a 100% discount on Super Meat Boy Forever has the potential to generate a greater volume of user activity over the coming week.

A digital video game storefront for Windows PC and macOS created and operated by Epic Games.