Free PC games this week: XCOM Enemy Unknown, Payday: The Heist, AVP and more

This is a mighty fine week for PC gamers who are looking to bag some free titles and it’s only going to get better. First I’ll start off with the bad news just to get it out of the way. Starting today, Dragon Age Origins is no longer free via Electronic Art’s Origin “On the House” program and has reverted back to the initial price of 10 bucks. Bejeweled 3, the other “On The House” title is no longer available either so there are no more free games on Origin at the moment. However, a new title might be added soon as the platform’s website reads “we’re currently hard at work selecting your next game that’s on the house”. Ok, now for the good news.

This month Overkill Software’s Payday: The Heist will be three-years old and the developer is celebrating by giving away free copies of the game on Steam. The giveaway starts tomorrow, October 16th at 10 am Pacific Time and will only last for 24 hours so make sure you keep an eye out for that. Next off, the good folks over at GOG are giving away the timeless classic Aliens vs Predator (2000) for a limited time. All you have to do is sign up with your email for the GOG Galaxy beta and wait for the code which should arrive within the next few days. There are no other strings attached whatsoever and the game will be yours to keep, although it is worth mentioning that the giveaway will only last until this Friday, October 17th so better hurry if you want to claim your copy.

Speaking of giveaways, Green Man Gaming is offering free copies of  Firaxis’ highly acclaimed sci-fi strategy title XCOM Enemy Unknown. I could hardly believe it myself at first, but there you go. However, there is something you must do before you can claim your Steam game key. XCOM Enemy Unknown will only be given to those who register and vote on the CVG’s 32nd annual Golden Joystick awards and create a GMG/Playfire account as well as link their Steam account to Playfire. Make sure you provide a valid email as the key will be sent to the email you use to register on these websites. Aside from that, just sit back, relax and enjoy one of the best games from 2012 at no cost whatsoever. For more details check out this post on CVG.

Green Man Gaming is also throwing in a coupon that you can use to purchase XCOM Enemy Unknown’s expansion pack XCOM Enemy Within at 80% off. In order to receive this coupon all you have to do is either play XCOM Enemy Unknown for 1 hour or just complete the tutorial mission and unlock the “And so it begins achievement” on Steam. The coupon will be sent to you via email in due time after you’ve completed any of these tasks. Since you’ll be creating a GMG account to get XCOM Enemy Unknown, know that you’ll also receive a few more free games courtesy of the website’s “Welcome Pack“. The pack is given to anyone who registers a new account on GMG and includes Steam copies of Gun Monkeys, Kung Fu Strike: The Warriors Rise plus its Master Level DLC, The Journey Down: Chapter One, Nosgoth Veteran Pack as well as a 7-day Trial for Onlive and a 23% off voucher to be used on any PC game offered by the website.

Last but not least, today’s your last chance to grab a free Steam key for the open-world racing game Crash Time 2 over at VG 24/7. The website also says that it will be giving away another still to be announced free game later today. (Update: VG 24/7 is offering free copies of Afterfall: InSanity. Go here to claim your free game). All in all, we’re looking at about 60 bucks of free games here (including GMG’s “Welcome Pack”) so these deals are definitely worth checking out. Stay tuned for more news and updates.