The Epic Games Store’s next free title has been announced

Next week’s free Epic Games Store title has been revealed.

Prison sandbox game The Escapists will be free to download from September 23-30.

It will replace 2D combat-racer Speed Brawl and turn-based space strategy game Tharsis, which normally cost £15.49 and £11.99 respectively, but are currently free to download until September 23.

Epic claimed in January that the Epic Games Store had attracted over 160 million PC users since launching in December 2018.

The company has been giving away free titles on a weekly basis since the marketplace launched, including 103 games in 2020, collectively worth $2,407 based on US prices. Epic said users claimed over 749 million free titles last year.

Epic Games spent nearly $12 million securing titles for its regular free game giveaways during a nine-month period, according to a document released as part of the legal battle between Epic and Apple.

It shows that Epic gave away 38 games during the store’s first nine months, each of which involved paying their developers a different ‘buyout price’.

Games like Super Meat Boy, World of Goo and Rime cost Epic $50,000 or less, while three games cost more than $1 million to secure – Subnautica ($1.4 million), Mutant Year Zero ($1 million) and Batman Arkham Collection ($1.5 million).

Epic Games confirmed this week that it is appealing the ruling in its antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which saw the judge in the case rule against the Fortnite maker in nine of the 10 counts it had brought against the iPhone firm.