Amazon is giving away 30 games free for Prime Day – but don't cancel Game Pass just yet

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By Callum Bains
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A deal worth having

Mass Effect Legendary Edition
(Image credit: EA)

Amazon has quite the treat for gaming folks this Prime day, as it’s giving away over 30 games completely free to all Prime members. You’ll need to be quick to claim the freebies, but don’t get too excited. While there are a few standout titles, the free haul doesn’t offer much to those who already have a packed gaming library or an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

It's certainly one of the more enticing Prime Day deals. Headlining the free games is Mass Effect Legendary Edition for PC – the reoptimized, 4k re-release of BioWare’s acclaimed sci-fi RPG trilogy from last year. It’s a loving revamp that improves the series in all the right ways and is a steal for the princely sum of $0. It’s joined by the competently fun racing game Grid Legends and the slightly more arcade-like racing game Need for Speed Heat. Three older Star Wars games – Jedi Academy, Jedi Outcast, and Republic Commando – are also in the mix.

The rest of the selection is made up of 25 indie games, bringing the total number of Prime Day freebies up to 31. Most are older releases or classic arcade picks, but they cover a broad range of genres. Death Squared is an abstract co-op puzzler, Hue is a tight platformer, and Samurai Shodown II will let you relive the glory days of fighting games.

All the games can be claimed and kept forever, so even when your Prime subscription ends you’ll still be able to play them. Head on over to Prime Gaming to bag them. You’ll have to hurry, though. The freebies will only be available until the end of Wednesday, July 13. Here’s the full list of games that are up for grabs:

  • Mass Effect Legendary Edition
  • Grid Legends
  • Need for Speed Heat
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast
  • Star Wars Republic Commando
  • 10 Second Ninja X
  • 8Doors: Arum’s Afterlife Adventure
  • Addling Adventures
  • Bang Bang Racing
  • Clouds & Sheep 2
  • Death Squared
  • Fatal Fury Special
  • Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
  • Gone Viral
  • HUE
  • Manual Samuel
  • Metal Slug 2
  • Metal Unit
  • Pumped BMX Pro
  • Puzzle of the Year — 10 Pack
  • Rain World
  • Road Trip — 3 Pack
  • Samurai Shodown II
  • Serial Cleaner
  • The Crow’s Eye
  • The Darkside Detective
  • The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
  • The King of Fighters 2000
  • The King of Fighters 2002
  • The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor

A neat trick

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

(Image credit: EA)

Of course, the games aren’t being given away for free in the true sense of the word. You’ll have to be a member of Amazon Prime to claim the freebies, which costs $14.99 / £7.99 / AU$ 6.99 per month. That’s great news if you’re an existing Prime member – you get a little more bang for your buck this month.

But even if you’re not currently subscribed to Amazon’s premium delivery service, you can still grab the games for free. Register for a 30-day free Prime trial, claim as many games as you want and, hey presto, you’ve just bagged one of the biggest games of last year for absolutely nothing. Not bad.

If you do go down the free trial route, however, do remember to cancel your Prime subscription before the end of the month. Or, maybe you’ll be taken by the benefits of Prime and find yourself a new convert to Amazon’s next-day delivery model.

A good deal, but with a catch

mass effect legendary edition wrex

(Image credit: EA)

This giveaway is certainly one of the better Prime Day deals we’ve seen this year. Being able to pick up 31 games for the price of a single month of Prime membership is a solid offer, especially when Mass Effect Legendary Edition usually retails for more than double that price.

But there are a few snags. These games are only playable on PC, and you’ll need a fairly competent rig to play the likes of Mass Effect, Grid Legends, and Need for Speed Heat. If you’re yet to pick up one of the best graphics cards currently available, or need to upgrade the CPU powering your PC, then don’t expect to be cavorting around BioWare’s sprawling space opera or drifting around high-octane tarmac tracks.

There’s also the problem of competitor services. Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Need for Speed Heat are already available on Xbox Game Pass through EA Play. Given the partnership that EA and Microsoft struck last year, which integrated the publisher’s biggest games into the subscription platform, we don’t reckon they’ll go away anytime soon, either.

But if you’re a PC player who’s got a capable system, an indie fan who missed some of the gems of recent years, or a Star Wars nut that hasn’t played the excellent Jedi Academy series, then this is one freebie worth getting excited about. And probably worth buying a single month of Amazon Prime to claim.

More Prime Day deals in the US

More Prime Day deals in the UK

Callum Bains
Callum Bains
Gaming News Writer

Callum is TechRadar Gaming’s News Writer. You’ll find him whipping up stories about all the latest happenings in the gaming world, as well as penning the odd feature and review. Before coming to TechRadar, he wrote freelance for various sites, including Clash, The Telegraph, and Gamesindustry.biz, and worked as a Staff Writer at Wargamer. Strategy games and RPGs are his bread and butter, but he’ll eat anything that spins a captivating narrative. He also loves tabletop games, and will happily chew your ear off about TTRPGs and board games.