How to download A Total War Saga: Troy for free on Epic Games Store (Update: you're too late!)

A Total War Saga: Troy
(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

Update, 2.30pm BST: Sadly the promotion is over! Hopefully you grabbed the game while it was free.

Original story: Creative Assembly's new strategy game A Total War Saga: Troy has now been released. The best thing about it: this brand new full Total War PC game is free, right now on the Epic Games Store, for the first 24 hours. And that's not just free-to-play for one day, either – it's free to download and keep, as long as you pick it up within that 24-hour window, which is nearly over. 

It's like the GTA 5 giveaway Epic ran earlier this year on PC, then, but the difference is that this is a brand-new game. You won't want to miss out, even if you're only slightly interested in the Total War strategy series. 

Below, we'll explain how you can grab A Total War Saga: Troy for free today. If you don't have an Epic Games account or if you're not quite sure how to go about downloading a free game from the store, this quick guide will help you get A Total War Saga: Troy for free in the next couple of hours – as well as any other free games that Epic has on offer.

When is Total War: Troy free to download on the Epic Games Store?

Total War Saga: Troy is available to download for free now on the Epic Games Store (go get it here). The giveaway began at 2PM BST / 9AM EDT / 6AM PDT on August 13, and since it's running for 24 hours, that means the free window is almost over. Grab the game today, and it'll be in your library forever, as long as you've added it to your account within this window.

How to get A Total War Saga: Troy for free

(Image credit: Epic Games Store)

You'll need an Epic Games account to get the game, which you can set up here if you don't have one already. Since the game has unlocked, sign in, and you should be able to add it to your account from Troy's store page here through your internet browser. You'll be asked for confirmation of your purchase, but you won't be charged. 

If you don't have the Epic Games launcher installed on your computer, you can simply head on over to the Epic's official site. You don't need it to add the game to your account (though you can do that for ease), but you do need the launcher to play A Total War Saga: Troy. 

And, that's it. A Total War Saga: Troy is yours to enjoy forever on the Epic Games Store, assuming everything goes as planned. 

How to get free A Total War Saga: Troy DLC

After you've grabbed A Total War Saga: Troy on August 13, you'll be able to get some free DLC for the game too, themed around the Amazons. According to the Total War website, this requires you linking a Total War Access and Epic Games account. You can sign up for Total War Access here – it's free. 

This might be worth doing if you're thinking about actually playing A Total War Saga: Troy, and not just adding it to an endless pile of free Epic PC games you'll never have time to play like we are. Enjoy!

Sarah James is a freelance video game writer with bylines at PC Gamer, TechRadar, Official PlayStation Magazine, PCGamesN, Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, GamesRadar, Red Bull Gaming, GAMINGbible, and more.