Epic Games Store January 15 Free Games Officially Revealed After Weird Delay

by

For January 15th, the Epic Games Store is giving away Styx: Master of Shadows and its sequel for free. This was announced as part of their regular free games program, though the announcement came later than usual. These stealth games are the fifth and sixth free titles Epic Games Store users will receive in 2025.

Epic Games recently offered two free games: the strategy game Total War: Three Kingdoms and the shooter Wildgate. These games were available from January 1st to 8th and were worth almost $90 combined. This giveaway kicked off Epic’s weekly free games for 2026, following a two-week holiday promotion in December where players could claim a different free game each day, starting with Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel and finishing with Trine Classic Collection on December 31st.

After Unusual Delay, Epic Games Store Confirms January 15–22 Giveaway Details

Following the end of Epic’s free game promotion on January 8th, fans noticed something different – a new free game wasn’t immediately offered. While delays have happened before, this was one of the longest since Epic started giving away free games weekly in late 2018. Finally, around 11:40am ET, the Epic Games Store website was updated to reveal next week’s free games: Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness. As always, these games will be available to download for free for seven days, from January 15th to January 22nd.

Epic Games Store Free Games Right Now

Freebie Value Free Period Platform(s)
Bloons TD 6 $13.99 Jan 8 – Jan 15 PC
Bouncemasters $2.49 Jan 8 – Jan 15 Android, iOS
Styx: Master of Shadows $19.99 Jan 15 – Jan 22 PC
Styx: Shards of Darkness $19.99 Jan 15 – Jan 22 PC

A Brief Intro to the Styx Duology, the Next Pair of EGS Freebies

I’m a huge fan of Cyanide Studio’s Styx games! There are two of them – Master of Shadows came out in 2014 and Shards of Darkness followed in 2017. You play as Styx, a really funny goblin assassin, and they’re both all about sneaking around in a dark fantasy world. They look great – they’re what’s called ‘AA’ quality – and really make you think and explore to get through. Plus, the Steam reviews are amazing – over 6,000 people have given them a ‘Very Positive’ rating! What’s really cool is that these games have never been given away for free on the Epic Games Store before now.

Epic’s Newly Launched Freebie Is Tower Defense Royalty

While fans wait for the giveaway of the Styx games to begin, Epic Games Store is now offering Bloons TD 6 for free. Created by Ninja Kiwi, a studio based in New Zealand, this 2018 game is widely considered one of the best tower defense titles ever made. It has consistently received excellent reviews, with a 96.24% approval rating on Steam as of January 2026 – placing it among the top 50 highest-rated games on the platform, based on nearly 220,000 reviews.

All the Times Bloons TD 6 Was Free on Epic Games Store

  • December 15 – 16, 2022 (holiday season mystery game)
  • August 3 – 10, 2023 (weekly giveaway)
  • January 8 – 15, 2026 (weekly giveaway)

Okay, so Bloons TD 6 is seriously packed with stuff to do. I mean, we’re talking over 80 maps, 25 different monkey towers, 16 power-ups, and a ridiculous 130 types of bloons to pop! There are also 17 different ways to play, and you can adjust the difficulty to really challenge yourself. They keep things fresh with daily missions too. What’s really cool is you can play with up to three friends in co-op. And the challenge editor? It’s amazing—it lets you throw SO many bloons at the screen that it can actually crash your computer! It’s been given away for free on the Epic Games Store before, but this game is a classic, so it’s more than just another freebie—it’s genuinely a great game.

Read More

2026-01-08 20:43