The Epic Games Store gives away new free games at 10am CT every Thursday, and this Thursday is no exception to the rule. The Epic Games Store currently has two free games it's giving away completely for free, no subscription necessary. All users need to do is download the Epic Games Store launcher and they're good to go, and while they're redeeming the current free games, they can get a sneak peek at next week's free game as well.

The Epic Games Store free games that are currently available are Void Bastards and Yooka-Laylee. Both games are fairly high profile releases for the Epic Games Store, which tends to lean more into smaller, more obscure indie titles when it comes to its free game offerings. Anyone interested in claiming Void Bastards or Yooka-Laylee for their Epic Games Store collection should be sure to do so before they're removed from the lineup on Thursday, August 26 at 10:00am CT.

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When Void Bastards and Yooka-Laylee are removed from the Epic Games Store free games lineup, they will be replaced by indie game Automachef from Team17. Automachef will be a free Epic Games Store game from August 26 until September 2, at which point it will be replaced by a new game or two. This effectively makes Automachef the first free Epic Games Store game of September 2021.

epic games store free games august september 2021

For those curious about what exactly Automachef is, it's a resource management game with puzzle-solving elements. It was developed by Hermes Interactive and published by Team17 in 2019, earning mixed reviews at the time of its release. But while mixed reviews is usually a good reason to avoid purchasing a game, perhaps those that are getting to play it for free will come away with a better appreciation of the title.

Most of the time, the Epic Games Store gives away two free games, but it occasionally switches things up by only giving out one free game. It did something similar when it came to the first Epic Games Store free game for July 2021, only offering users The Spectrum Retreat as the sole free game.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the skipped Epic Games Store free game ever joins the lineup. Earlier in August, Speed Brawl was supposed to be an Epic Games Store free game, only for it to be pulled at the last minute, replaced by Minit instead. This was apparently due to technical issues, but no new dates have been announced for Speed Brawl being made a free Epic Games Store game at the time of this writing.

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