Play and keep ​​‘Daemon X Machina’ next week via Epic Games Store

Daemon X Machina is available to play and keep for free next week, as the title becomes the latest game given away via the Epic Game Store.

Players will simply need to access the Epic Game Store between January 27 and February 3 to download the title, which will be reduced by 100 per cent. It will then be available in your library forever more.

First-person physics-based puzzle game Relicta is currently free until January 27.

The game, developed by Marvelous and published by XSEED Games, was originally released for PC in 2020 after being a Nintendo Switch exclusive for six months. Daemon X Machina is a third-person shooter action game that puts players in command of an Arsenal, “a mech of ungodly power which affords both freedom and dominance on the ground and in the air.”

The listing on the Epic Game Store reads: “You are an Outer, a new breed of human being that appeared in the aftermath of the Moonfall calamity. As a mercenary for the Orbital organization, you are on the front line of a desperate war for humanity’s survival against the Immortals—corrupted AIs that have rebelled against their human creators.

“Piloting a fully customizable mech known as an Arsenal, you must team up with mercenaries like yourself and complete missions to defeat the Immortals once and for all. But be careful—in a war fought by mercenaries, today’s allies can become tomorrow’s enemies.”

Information from the Epic v. Apple lawsuit suggests that Epic Games Store is losing money on smaller indie games and is yet to turn a profit.

The information suggests that Epic often makes a return on investment when securing exclusivity deals for AAA games such as Borderlands 3. Epic Games Store will offer developers a minimum guarantee. This is an amount that Epic will pay developers regardless of a game’s actual sales.

Epic has since established a new publishing system that will fund games with lower risk on return. The first titles to be published this way are Alan Wake 2 and Alan Wake Remastered. For these games, Epic will pay for 100 per cent of development costs, go-to-market costs, and more in exchange for a 50 per cent split of profits. This new system could see the Epic Games Store finally return a profit.