Best free PC games in the UK: 16 genuinely free picks

The PC ranking

1. 

   Fortnite Free for real

   Free on PC through Epic Games, with a shop built around cosmetic items and a large library of player-made islands.

2. 

   VALORANT Free-ish

   Riot lists the game as free to play on PC, with paid VALORANT Points used for cosmetics and agent unlocks that can also be earned in play.

3. 

   Rocket League Free for real

   Free on PC via the Epic Games Store, and its matches are decided by car control rather than purchases.

4. 

   Apex Legends Free-ish

   Free on Steam and EA's PC app; legends can be unlocked with currency earned by playing, and paid items are largely cosmetic.

5. 

   Marvel Rivals Free for real

   Free on Steam and its shop focuses on costumes and passes, with paid Luxury Battle Passes that do not expire.

6. 

   Overwatch Free for real

   The game now called simply Overwatch is free on Steam and Battle.net, with a shop and seasonal passes built around cosmetics and progression.

7. 

   THE FINALS Free for real

   Free on Steam, a team shooter whose paid items are cosmetic.

8. 

   Warframe Free for real

   Free on Steam with a huge amount of content reachable by playing, though paid currency speeds things up considerably.

9. 

   Fall Guys Free for real

   Free on PC via Epic Games, a light party game with a cosmetic shop.

10. 

    Call of Duty: Warzone Free-ish

    Free on Battle.net and Steam without buying the premium Call of Duty games, though those games are heavily promoted inside it.

11. 

    Roblox Free-ish

    Free on Windows and Mac, but each experience inside it can sell its own items, so parental settings matter more than usual.

12. 

    MARVEL SNAP Free-ish

    Free on Steam as well as phones, with progress shared between devices and a shop that sells cosmetics and passes.

13. 

    eFootball Free-ish

    Free on Steam, though building a strong squad is easier with paid currency than without.

14. 

    Genshin Impact Free-ish

    Free on PC with a lot of story content, but characters and weapons come from paid-or-earned random draws.

15. 

    Honkai: Star Rail Free-ish

    Free on PC with the same random-draw model for characters as Genshin Impact.

16. 

    Destiny 2 Free to start

    Free to start on Steam, but much of the game's story content is sold separately as paid expansions.

Online play on PC has no platform subscription

On consoles, the subscription question is the first thing people ask. On PC it simply does not come up. None of the free games on this page needs a paid platform membership to play online on Windows: you download the game, create or link the account the publisher asks for, and play.

That does not mean every PC launcher is free of subscriptions. Some offer optional memberships with game libraries or in-game perks, and several free games run their own optional passes. Those are extras. Nothing about online multiplayer in the games below depends on them.

Launchers, store tabs and where each free game lives

Most PC storefronts have a free-to-play filter or section, and that is the quickest way to separate genuinely free downloads from short trials and demos. A few habits make browsing simpler:

• Check who publishes the game. Some games are only distributed through the publisher's own launcher. Valorant, for example, is downloaded directly from Riot, and Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail come from HoYoverse's PC launcher.
• Look for the words "free to play" on the listing. A price of £0 next to a "demo", "trial" or "free weekend" label is not the same thing.
• Read the add-ons tab. Paid currency packs, editions and expansions are listed there, and it tells you quickly how a game earns its money.
• Avoid key resellers. Free games never need a key. Download from the official store or launcher only.

One PC, several accounts: getting family settings right

A console has one account system. A gaming PC often has four or five: the Windows user account, each storefront or launcher, and each publisher account used to sign in to the game itself. Every one of those can hold a payment method and every one has its own age and privacy options.

For a shared family PC, the basics are:

• Give each child their own Windows user so saved logins are not shared.
• Look in the settings of each launcher for parental or family options, and check them again after updates, since menus move.
• Check the in-game settings of each free game for voice and text chat options. Many games let you turn chat off or limit it to friends.

This is not a full how-to, and menu names change often, so follow each launcher's own help pages for the exact steps.

Keeping spending in check across several PC launchers

Surprise spending on PC tends to come from saved cards in launchers that nobody remembers setting up. A short routine helps:

1. Open each launcher's payment settings and remove any card you do not want used.
2. Turn on any purchase confirmation, password-on-purchase or two-step verification option the launcher offers.
3. If a child is allowed to spend, consider a fixed amount of store credit instead of a saved card, so the ceiling is built in.
4. Check the purchase history in each launcher and publisher account every month. Premium currency purchases usually show up there.

Remember that in-game currencies are sold in packs, and what is left over after a purchase stays in the game. For more on that, see our guide to how free games make money.

How these PC picks were put in order

The order below is an editorial view, not a test result. It is based on publisher documentation and store listings checked on 3 November 2026: whether the core game is free on PC in the UK, how much of the game is reachable without paying, and whether paid items are documented as cosmetic or as affecting play. Shooters lean high because their shops are largely cosmetic; games with paid random draws or large paid expansions sit lower even when the free content is generous.

Brawl Stars and Pokémon Unite are left out because they are not available on PC. Each game has its own page with the full "receipt" of what is free and what costs money.