Steam now offers free game trials

There's been a bundle of games releases lately that have come with a huge reputation, massive budgets, and a barrel of hype, but are held behind price tags that mean you can't have them all. 

And with some of these colossal games having been criticised right off the bat for having poor quality, yes, we're looking at you Redfall and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, wouldn't you have liked the opportunity to play the games for free first - without having to pay a penny?

That's what Steam's new initiative is promising, as Valve has now started releasing 90-minute game trials for free. The ultimate try before you buy is here, and it could change the way we purchase video games. 

Steam is offering a 90-minute trial for the Dead Space Remake

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Giving players the chance to play a game before buying it can be a double-edged sword, with developers likely to be wary of the system because 90 minutes could be all you need to say "nope, not for me," while it could also drive sales through the roof if a game releases that is better than expected.

Well, Steam is now offering game developers this exact choice, as the PC game store has offered up the chance for players to get over an hour's worth of action on the Dead Space Remake, one of 2023's most critically-acclaimed games.

The Dead Space Remake appears to be the only game with a 90-minute trial at the moment, but given that it is listed for $48/£40 on the store, this could be your opportunity to decide whether or not to give it a go.  If you're sold, you've got until May 29 to try out the free trial. 

What other games could land on Steam's 90-minute trial list?

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There's no doubt that Valve and a long list of publishers will be monitoring the success that EA will have with the Dead Space Remake trial, and given many games recently have needed quite a lot of post-launch content, there will surely be some more games landing on this list.

The aforementioned Star Wars Jedi: Survivor might be one of the more interested parties, given EA's involvement already, which suffered on PC specifically. Other 2023 releases that might need an extra boost could be Hogwarts Legacy, Wild Hearts, or The Last of Us Part 1 - although they've been selling great.

It doesn't come as much surprise that EA is heavily involved in the trials, as it consistently uses a ten-hour trial for FIFA (now rebranded as EA Sports FC) annual releases to entice players year after year. It might just be that the Jedi could be upon us soon as a free experience too...