Entertainment

Steam offers 2024 game for free with no strings attached

Sofia Martinez — Culture & Entertainment Editor
By Sofia Martinez · Culture & Entertainment Editor
· 3 min read

_

By

Chris Carter

Published May 12, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.**

You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias.

Find Chris on Twitter @_SRChris.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

If you're a Steam** fan, you have a lot to look forward to this year, and beyond. The Steam Deck really took the industry by surprise and built a cottage industry for itself, and there's at least one new model rumored to be in the works for a future release. With the PlayStation Portal, the Switch 2, the ROG Xbox Ally, and the Steam Deck all in the mix, it's an interesting time for portable gaming.

Sponsored

Your pool is already running this. Are you?

If you're more of a console or PC gamer, Steam has you covered as well. We're all waiting with bated breath to see when the Steam Machine launch will happen amid rising hardware prices, and the publisher plans to deliver another VR product as well. They've been extremely busy, and even delivered the Steam Controller recently.

Before all of that hardware arrives, you can grab a free game off Steam now. It's completely free, with no strings or subscriptions attached.

Right now on Steam, you can grab Blindfire: Lights Out_, a free online multiplayer shooter centered around the gimmick of darkness and sensing enemies. Originally launched as Blindfire, the game was retooled and offered up as a free download rather than a premium-priced title. It's a huge 180, and the reason why this was done despite the game not really taking off is admirable.

Here's the full statement from the team on the relaunch: "We have decided to make it free to play and keep the servers online indefinitely. We are doing this because we believe games are art and they deserve to be preserved. We refuse to bury what we built just because things didn't go perfectly. We are keeping it alive because we are proud of it. You won't see adverts or marketing campaigns trying to drag you back in. This is just a gift to those who want to see what we created. We loved making this game. Watching playtesters get to grips with our twist on the FPS was a massive highlight for us and seeing some big streamers jump into our world was a proper thrill."

This is the game's "final update," which includes several new weapons, following up on a recent update that added more modes to Blindfire: Lights Out. Given the reach they've had with this rebrand and the fact that it's free, there should be a lot of people to play with this week.

_

The online shooter genre is extremely packed right now, but free is free. If you're looking for a new game to try, whether it's because your Call of Duty_ group is taking a break or what have you, now is a decent time to try Blindfire: Lights Out.

The premise alone is intriguing and worth a play, especially since you can download it on Steam and give it a go without stress.