Drawpie Explainers

Steam Free Games October 2026: What You Can Keep and What's Only Free to Play

By Kimi · October 30, 2026 · 9 min read
Steam Free Games October 2026: What You Can Keep and What's Only Free to Play
Photo by amjed omaf on Unsplash
Key takeaways
  • As of 06:15 UTC on Fri, Oct. 30, 2026, Steam’s US 100%-off filter shows exactly two items: Hexologic and the Hunting Simulator 3 Classic American Hunter Pack.
  • Hexologic ($4.99 list) is free to keep until Sat, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. EDT (17:00 UTC). Claim it on the store page and it stays in your library.
  • ⚠️ The Classic American Hunter Pack is a DLC, not a game. It is free to keep until Thu, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. PST (18:00 UTC), but it only works with Hunting Simulator 3, which lists at $39.99.
  • ⚠️ Radiant Exodus is free now. Its developer says it plans to go back to paid on Nov. 17, 2026, “pending confirmation from Steam”, and that anyone who claims it while free keeps it. That is the developer’s statement, not a Steam promotion.
  • Football Manager 27 is free to play, not to keep, until Tue, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST (18:00 UTC). The full game launches Nov. 10 at $59.99.
  • Steam Scream V Fest (horror discounts and demos) runs until Mon, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. PST. The Steam Autumn Sale already ran Oct. 1-8 and is over.

Very little on Steam is free to keep right now. At 2:15 a.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 (06:15 UTC), Steam’s US store showed exactly two items at 100% off: the puzzle game Hexologic, free to keep until Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT), and a Hunting Simulator 3 add-on that only works if you own the base game. Beyond those two, Radiant Exodus is free and its developer says you keep it if you claim it before a planned Nov. 17 return to paid. Football Manager 27 is free to play, but not to keep, until Nov. 3. Steam Scream V Fest has horror discounts and demos until Nov. 2.

What is actually free on Steam right now?

Steam’s free offers fall into four groups, and only the first one leaves you with something you own. We read each item on its Steam store page between 06:15 and 06:17 UTC on Oct. 30.

  • Free to keep: claim it before the deadline and it stays in your library. This covers Hexologic and the Hunting Simulator 3 Classic American Hunter Pack (a DLC). Radiant Exodus also belongs here on its developer’s word: it is free now, and the developer says you keep it if you claim it before a planned Nov. 17 return to paid.
  • Free to play for a limited time: you can play until the window closes, then access stops unless you buy the game. This covers the Football Manager 27 Launch Preview.
  • Permanently free-to-play: free with no deadline. This covers Playable Archive, new on Oct. 26.
  • Demos: free trial builds of games that are not out yet or that you have to buy. Many are featured during Steam Scream V Fest.

The table below shows each offer, what kind of offer it is, and when it ends in US Eastern time. That is EDT on Oct. 31 and EST from Nov. 1, when the clocks change.

OfferTypeEnds (ET)
HexologicKeepSat Oct 31, 1 p.m.
Hunter PackKeep (DLC)Thu Nov 12, 1 p.m.
Radiant ExodusKeep (dev)Nov 17, planned
FM27 previewPlay onlyTue Nov 3, 1 p.m.
Scream V FestSale, demosMon Nov 2, 1 p.m.

How long is Hexologic free on Steam, and what is it?

Hexologic is free to keep until Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. PDT, which is 1 p.m. EDT and 17:00 UTC/GMT. The US store page reads “Free to keep when you get it before Oct 31 @ 10:00am”. It normally lists at $4.99.

  • What it is: a 2018 logic puzzle game by MythicOwl that its store page describes as Sudoku-like. You place dots in hexagons so that each row adds up to the number at its edge. The page lists more than 90 levels across six worlds.
  • Platforms: Windows and Linux. Steam does not list a Mac version.
  • Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive, with 96% of 691 user reviews positive (read at 06:16 UTC on Oct. 30).

After the deadline it goes back to its normal price, and anyone who claimed it in time keeps it.

Is the Hunting Simulator 3 Classic American Hunter Pack a free game?

No, it is a free add-on for a paid game. The Classic American Hunter Pack is free to keep until Thursday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST, 18:00 UTC). It normally lists at $4.99. But it is a DLC, and to use it you need Hunting Simulator 3 , which Nacon released on Oct. 29 with a list price of $39.99.

According to the store page, the pack contains:

  • a Winchester Model 1892 Short Rifle (a lever-action rifle)
  • an American Foxhound, a new dog breed
  • a Verney-Carron Woolchap hat in three colors

The store page shows an “Add to Account” button alongside a notice that the pack requires the base game. So you can try claiming it now and use it if you buy Hunting Simulator 3 later. On its own, it does nothing.

Is Radiant Exodus still free to keep?

For now, yes, but the keep-it-forever part is the developer’s promise, not a Steam promotion. Radiant Exodus , which its store page calls a linear action-horror shooter, is by the studio Horrawr and has been free since Aug. 4. In a Steam announcement on Oct. 20, the developer said the game “is planned to return to a paid game on November 17, 2026, pending confirmation from Steam”. It also said anyone who adds it to their library while it is free will keep it permanently.

Some caveats:

  • Its store page does not carry Steam’s own “Free to keep when you get it before…” line. Steam lists it as a free game with no price, which is why it does not appear in the 100%-off filter.
  • When the developer announced the free switch on July 27, it said the game would become “permanently free”. The Oct. 20 post reverses that, so the plan has already changed once and could change again.
  • No time of day has been given for Nov. 17.
  • Reviews: Very Positive, with 87% of 56 user reviews positive (read at 06:16 UTC on Oct. 30). Windows only.

If you want it, claim it well before Nov. 17 instead of counting on the last day.

Can you play Football Manager 27 for free on Steam?

Yes, until Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST, 18:00 UTC/GMT), but you do not keep it. This is a free-play window for the Football Manager 27 Launch Preview, not a giveaway. It started Thursday, Oct. 29 at 18:00 UTC. The US store page reads “Play for free until Nov 3 @ 10:00am”. The full game launches Nov. 10 with a list price of $59.99.

Here is what Sports Interactive, the developer, says in its Steam posts:

  • The Launch Preview is free on PC and Mac until 6 p.m. GMT on Nov. 3, on Steam, the Epic Games Store, the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. The Game Pass route is only for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
  • If you pre-purchase through a SEGA-approved retailer (advertised at 10% off), you keep Launch Preview access from Nov. 3 to the Nov. 10 launch.
  • Careers started during the free period carry over to the paid Launch Preview and to the full release.
  • Different platforms may go live at different times.
  • The build is still waiting on approval from rights holders, so some club and player assets may be missing.

If you don’t pre-purchase, you lose access when the window closes. Your save carries over if you buy the game later.

What is Steam Scream V Fest, and are there free demos?

Steam Scream V Fest is Valve’s horror and Halloween event, and it runs until Monday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST, 18:00 UTC). Valve’s Steamworks event calendar lists it from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 for games in the horror category and Halloween-themed games. The store’s Scream Fest page features discounted horror games along with demos you can download for free.

A demo is a trial, not the full game. It may be removed after the event, and buying the full game is a separate decision. Most featured discounts end with the fest, but some deals on the page run longer, so check the end date on each game’s store page.

What new free games came out on Steam in October?

One notable new free release is Playable Archive , a short horror game from DarkStone Digital, the studio behind The Mortuary Assistant, published by DreadXP on Oct. 26. It is free to play with no deadline.

  • What it is: IGN, Polygon, Dread Central and other outlets reported on Oct. 26 that it is built from a cancelled Paranormal Activity game. The Steam page itself does not mention Paranormal Activity. It describes a New England couple who find a mysterious object while renovating their home.
  • Length: the store page says it takes 30 to 60 minutes and has no save system, so it has to be played in one sitting.
  • Platforms: Windows only.
  • Reviews: Very Positive, with 98% of 204 user reviews positive (read at 06:16 UTC on Oct. 30).

How do you claim a free game on Steam and keep it?

Log in to Steam, open the game’s store page, and click the green “Add to Account” button before the deadline. The game then appears in your library permanently. You don’t have to download or play it during the offer.

  1. Sign in to your Steam account in the Steam app or in a web browser.
  2. Open the store page. The links in this guide go straight to Steam.
  3. Find the box that says “Free to keep when you get it before…” and click Add to Account.
  4. Check your library. The game should be listed there even if it isn’t installed.

Permanently free games like Radiant Exodus and Playable Archive show Play Game or Download instead. Clicking it adds the game to your library. For the Football Manager 27 free window, Play Game gives you access only until Nov. 3.

How can you tell a real free-to-keep offer from a free weekend?

Look for the exact line on the store page: “Free to keep when you get it before [date]”. If the page shows that line, a 100% discount and an “Add to Account” button, it is a giveaway you keep. If it says “Play for free until [date]” and the normal price is still shown for buying, it is a free weekend or free-play window, and access ends on that date.

Two more things to keep in mind:

  • Steam’s deadline text has no time zone, and the time it shows can depend on your location settings. This guide’s times come from the timestamps in Steam’s page data.
  • Roundups often mix stores together. A game listed as “free on PC” may be an Epic Games Store or Prime Gaming offer, not a Steam one. If it is not on its Steam page, it is not a Steam offer.

Is the Steam Autumn Sale still on?

No, the Steam Autumn Sale 2026 is over. It ran from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, according to a developer announcement posted on Steam. On Valve’s Steamworks calendar, the next big seasonal event is the Steam Winter Sale, from Dec. 17, 2026 to Jan. 4, 2027. Before that, the calendar lists an Auto-Battler RPG Fest from Nov. 16 to 23.

Not Steam: the Epic Games Store is a separate store with its own weekly giveaway. Its current free game is Sorry We’re Closed, until Thursday, Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. EST (16:00 UTC). From Nov. 5, Epic lists Flotsam and an Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms offer. Prime Gaming games come through Amazon’s subscription and are not Steam either. You can’t claim any of these on Steam.

Sources

How we verified this

Every Steam offer on this page was re-read on Steam itself between 06:15 and 06:17 UTC on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 (2:15-2:17 a.m. EDT). The US store search with the 100%-off filter (maxprice=free, specials=1, cc=us) returned a total of two results: Hexologic (app 785890) and Hunting Simulator 3 - Classic American Hunter Pack (app 4693960). Each store page URL linked in the article was fetched and its page title checked against the game name. Steam returns HTTP 200 even for invalid app IDs, so the title is the check, not the status code.

The deadlines come from the store pages’ own data, not from news coverage. Steam’s visible US-store text (“Free to keep when you get it before Oct 31 @ 10:00am”, “Free to keep when you get it before Nov 12 @ 10:00am”, “Play for free until Nov 3 @ 10:00am”) gives no time zone, so the zone was taken from the Unix timestamps embedded in each page. Those are free_to_keep_ends 1793466000 (Sat 31 Oct 17:00 UTC) for Hexologic, free_to_keep_ends 1794506400 (Thu 12 Nov 18:00 UTC) for the Hunter Pack, and free_weekend end_time 1793728800 (Tue 3 Nov 18:00 UTC) for Football Manager 27. US clocks fall back on Nov. 1, so the November times are PST/EST. Sports Interactive’s own Steam announcement of 29 Oct gives the same FM27 end time, 6pm GMT on 3 November.

Radiant Exodus’s keep-forever promise and the Nov. 17 date rest only on the developer’s own Steam announcements. The 20 Oct 2026 post says the game “is planned to return to a paid game on November 17, 2026, pending confirmation from Steam”. The 27 Jul 2026 post had called it “permanently free”. No newer announcement was listed at 06:16 UTC on Oct. 30. Steam’s appdetails shows it as a free game with no price, and the store page carries no Steam “free to keep” line. The article presents it as the developer’s plan, which could change.

Scream V Fest dates come from Valve’s Steamworks event calendar (Oct 26 - Nov 2), and the end time from the Scream category page’s deal data (end_date 1793642400 = Mon 2 Nov 18:00 UTC). The same page also carries deal end dates of 6 Nov 18:00 UTC and 12 Nov 17:00 UTC, so not every featured discount ends with the fest. The Autumn Sale dates (Oct. 1-8) come from a developer’s Steam announcement of 2 Oct 2026 (Asleep: Act 1), not from Valve directly. The Winter Sale dates are from the Steamworks calendar.

Playable Archive’s link to a cancelled Paranormal Activity game is not on its Steam page. It comes from news reports of 26-27 Oct 2026 (IGN, Polygon, Dread Central, Bloody Disgusting, iHorror). The release date, the price (free), the 30-60 minute length and the review share come from Steam.

Whether the Hunter Pack can be claimed without the base game was not tested. The store page shows an “Add to Account” button next to a notice that the content requires the base game, so the article hedges that point.

Review percentages move daily. All were read at 06:16 UTC on Oct. 30. The Epic Games Store dates in the “not Steam” note come from Epic’s public free-games feed (country US), read at 06:17 UTC on Oct. 30.