Giveaways and Betas Notice & Discussion Thread: NO TRADING, NO BEGGING

[Applebee]

Updated as of [4/16/2013]
4/16: Added Anomaly 2 Multiplayer Beta
2/26: Added Rome Total War, Awesomenauts, and BIT.TRIP Runner
1/31: Added The Showdown Effect Beta

Recently there's been a surge of developers giving out free copies of their games, or others wishing to add more players to their beta. With all the separate threads on the forum, sometimes it can be hard to navigate and keep up! I've made this thread as a one-stop tracker for all the newest developer giveaways and betas. We've also started tracking contests and other promotions as well.

**This thread is not for trading (please don't trade here)**

Help keep this thread updated; If you spot a giveaway or beta, let us know!

All of the games listed below can be activated on Steam

Giveaways:

• (None)

Betas:

• From 11 bit studios
  • Beta: Anomaly 2 Multiplayer Beta
  • Instructions: Limited keys are located here on Alienware
  • Status: Active

• From Paradox Interactive
  • Beta: The Showdown Effect
  • Instructions: Sign-ups are located here
  • Status: Active

• From Valve
  • Beta: DotA 2
  • Instructions: Thousands of copies being given out at Alienware Arena at the moment
  • Status: Out of Keys

• From DNS Development
  • Game: Primal Fears
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get invited later: Link here
  • Status: Hasn't begun yet

• From Doctor Entertainment
  • Beta: Gear Up
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get invited later - Link
  • Status: They are sending out keys in waves (first wave went out)

• From Codebrush
  • Beta: Arche Blade
  • Instructions: They are giving them out to people who post their email here | Alternate
  • Status: Active

• From Demiurge Studios
  • Beta: Arena Kings
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get invited later - Link
  • Status: They're currently sending out keys

• From Garry
  • Beta: Gary's Mod 13
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get instant access (requires ownership of Gary's Mod) - Link
  • Status: Active?

• From Dylan Fitterer
  • Beta: Audiosurf Air
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get invited later - Link
  • Status: Hasn't begun yet

• From Edge of Reality
  • Beta: Loadout
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get invited later - Link
  • Status: They are currently sending out keys

• From Two Tribes
  • Beta: Toki Tori 2
  • Instructions: Complete info. Send an email to tokitori2@twotribes.com and you'll get invited later
  • Status: They're currently sending out keys

Contests:

• (None)

Extras:

• From Alienware Arena
  • Game: Transcripted Alienware Demo
  • Instructions: Sign-up and get a key for a new demo level: Right here
  • Status: 3000 keys left, they add more frequently

Other promotions:

• From IGN Prime (Requires a subscription. $30 per year)
  • AI War
  • Super House of the Dead Ninjas
  • Snuggle Truck

• From PC Gamer Magazine (Requires magazine purchase)
  • Game: Rome: Total War
  • Inside: PC Gamer UK March 2013, issue 249
  • Game: Payday The Heist, and Dota 2
  • Inside: PC Gamer UK November 2012, issue 245
  • Game: Europa Universalis III
  • Inside: PC Gamer UK October 2012, issue 244

• From the App Store (Requires an iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad)
  • Copies of Eets, Puzzle Agent, and World of Goo
  • Requires purchase of: The Heist
  • Copy of Fractal
  • Requires purchase of: MacHeist 4 - iPhone, iPad, Mac

• Bundled Games (Requires purchase of PC hardware)
  • Game: Borderlands 2
  • Bundled with: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti - $299
  • Game: Dirt 3 and Sonic Generations
  • Bundled with: Certain AMD CPUs and Radeon GPUs. See here and here

Expired Giveaways:

• From THQ
  • Free copy of Metro 2033 from their FB Promotion
  • Date Active: Early December to the 24th

• From Subsoap
  • Free copy of Faerie Solitaire from the Steam store page.
  • Date active: From November 1st to November 8th

• From SQUARE ENIX, Eidos Interactive
  • Free copy of Hitman: Sniper Challenge from Famitsu, then from the official Hitman DE Website.
  • Date active: September 11th only (Famitsu), then December 1st to 14th (Official DE Site)

• From Exosyphen Studios
  • Free copy of Hacker Evolution Duality from the developers website
  • Date active: July 4th to July 31st. 3653 copies were given out

• From Frozenbyte
  • Free copies of Shadowgrounds and Shdowgrounds: Survivor from the developers Summer promo site
  • Date active: July 17th to 20th

• From Rockstar Games
  • Free copy of Midnight Club 2 from the devlopers Steam Community page
  • Date active: May 5th to 15th

• From Puppygames:
  • Free copy of Revenge of the Titans or Titans Attacks on their official website
  • Date active: April 12th only (24 hour promotion)

• From YeaBoing
  • Two free copies of Lucid from the developers on Reddit
  • Date active: April 7th to around the 15th. Over 20,000 copies were given out

• From Subsoap
  • A free copy of Faerie Solitaire from the developers on Steamgifts
  • Date Active: March 23rd to April 2nd. 25,000 copies were handed out

[TheRevanchist]

Good idea to start this. Should be useful as long as it gets updated often enough. +rep

[targetbsp]

Are you sure you can get a free trial from IGN prime still? I thought they removed it and I can't see any suggestion there still is one on their site.

[Mr_Folg3rs]

I've been wondering about some of these for awhile. Great thing to start up. Props

[cyba89]

You can get access to the Toki Tori 2-Beta if you send an email to the developers.

You get it as a steam key. I think you can add this.

[OmegaRed60]

Are you sure that version of SPAZ can be activated on Steam? It's isn't a Steamworks game. It just has a Steam version.

[Applebee]

Originally Posted by OmegaRed60

Are you sure that version of SPAZ can be activated on Steam? It's isn't a Steamworks game. It just has a Steam version.

I am sure. And SPAZ has Cloud support, if I'm not mistaken, which makes it a Steamworks title.

[schisch]

there is no free trial for IGN prime anymore

[Applebee]

Originally Posted by schisch

there is no free trial for IGN prime anymore

Really? This is the first I'm hearing about this. Are you sure they've removed it, or maybe they've just hidden it somewhere else on the site?

[OmegaRed60]

Originally Posted by Applebee

I am sure. And SPAZ has Cloud support, if I'm not mistaken, which makes it a Steamworks title.

That's not how it works. Arkham City has Steam cloud and isn't Steamworks. It can easily be done for a Steam version since it's just an API. Have you received the version from IGN yourself to verify that they are giving Steam keys because I see nothing there suggesting they are.

[AraxisHT]

I'm gonna need a Notice And Discussion Thread Notice and Discussion Thread if these useless things keep popping up.

[schisch]

yah i just googled a bit when i read this post here and i saw a post by one of their admins or whatever saing that it was removed because if trial abuse

here it is:

From Facebook (IGN):

"We know about these actions and although having a trial subscription does entitle you to benefits during that period of time this is not the intent of the free trial or gamersgate promotion. Just know that we are working to stop free trial abuse"

[Applebee]

Originally Posted by OmegaRed60

That's not how it works. Arkham City has Steam cloud and isn't Steamworks. It can easily be done for a Steam version since it's just an API. Have you received the version from IGN yourself to verify that they are giving Steam keys because I see nothing there suggesting they are.

I can confirm they are Steam keys. I received one from a friend who has IGN Prime.
Also, IGN has been giving out Steam keys for games (such as Q.U.B.E, Choplifter HD, and King Arthur) for the past few months.

[PsYcHo126]

Awesome, thanks for this thread!

[Applebee]

Originally Posted by PsYcHo126

Awesome, thanks for this thread!

Thanks for your support.