EA are offering a week of their blockbuster FPS title Battlefield 4 on Origin, entirely for free. This is part of a promotion by the oft maligned publishers called Game Time whereupon entire games are offered, for a limited time, for free. This is not a demo, it is the full game experience.
This version of Game Time is operating until the 14th of August but the free week will not start until you actually launch the game, so there is no need to rush to install Origin. On top of this, progress you make during the game is saved so should you decide to purchase the title on the back of this experience then you can pick up right where you left off.
This seems to be part of a continued strategy to attract gamers towards Origin, EA’s DRM platform. Clearly EA are doing everything they can to draw in users, probably hoping to establish a rival to Valve’s platform Steam. This is exemplified through the recent decision to have The Sims 2 made available for free as well as the introduction of this Game Time feature, which has so far been used in conjunction with Battlefield 4 and Titan Fall. I think it is safe to expect more AAA titles to be available in the future. Will this strategy be enough to tempt users away from Steam? Until Origin offer sales and a community that rivals the well established Valve creation it is hard to see that happening. However, if they are simply looking to improve their public image, a good way to go about it is certainly to offer a trial of your biggest AAA titles for free.
You can make use of this promotion here.
