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The Best Free PC Games

Money doesn't buy happiness.

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The rise of free to play as a business model for PC games over the last few years has paved the way for some incredible PC games to flourish. Here, then, is a list of the best free to play games currently available on the platform. Note that we only included games that do not require you to pay at a certain point to progress--only games that let you play for free, forever, are counted.

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Dota 2

"The experience of playing Dota changes day by day--some evenings will be exhilarating, while others will kick your morale to the curb--but there are few games as worthy of your time investment as this." -- Read our review

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League of Legends

"Once League of Legends has its hooks in you, don't be shocked to find you've spent a few hundred hours seeking digital fame in one of video gaming's finest battlegrounds." -- Read our review

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Smite

"Smite is a godsend for the MOBA genre, with the heart of its gameplay proving that innovation to the war plan for tower siege games is possible." -- Read our review

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Path of Exile

"This always-online game's chat channels are often filled with statements like "This is the sequel to Diablo II I always wanted," and developer Grinding Gear Games clearly looked to Blizzard's classic for inspiration..." -- Read our review

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Ghost Recon Phantoms

"A great cover system, balanced class perks, and some cool high-tech gadgets make the moments where it all comes together feel immensely satisfying." -- Read our review

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Rift

"Rifts open seemingly anywhere--possibly even right above you. The first time such an event occurs in your immediate vicinity, it is spectacular." -- Read our review

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Star Wars: The Old Republic

"...An enjoyable massively multiplayer online game with knockout production values. The Old Republic's foundation is somewhat ordinary; what makes it great are the fine details that gild its edges." -- Read our review

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The Lord of the Rings Online

"With plenty of familiar landmarks as well as a few original to the game, it's got plenty of fan service without ever resting on the laurels of a famous franchise." -- Read our review

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PlanetSide 2

"The massive first-person battles make you fear every step and celebrate every kill, knowing that one small victory contributes to the greater cause." -- Read our review

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Team Fortress 2

"...Though your free-to-play options may have increased considerably in the past few years, there are few that do it as well as Team Fortress 2." -- Read our review

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World of Tanks

"World of Tanks is a slick-looking game with a ridiculous amount of great content to back up its accessible tank-on-tank combat." -- Read our review

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War Thunder

"Dozens and dozens of planes and tanks from each of the five principal nations that fought it out for freedom or fascism in the 1930 and 1940s collide on every map in wild, cataclysmic battles that alternate between intimidating and exhilarating." -- Read our review

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Tribes: Ascend

"The unique movement mechanics transform every aspect of this otherwise straightforward shooter, creating combat zones unlike any others and making Tribes: Ascend a great bet for online competition." -- Read our review

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War of the Roses

"After you lose too much blood and collapse to the ground, there's nothing as unsettling as watching helplessly while your foe towers over you and proceeds to stab a broadsword through your ribs to finish the job." -- Read our review

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Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

"In true Blizzard form, Hearthstone shatters barriers to entry while supplying the means to access greater challenges if you seek them. Indeed, card gaming veterans will find much to love beyond the cheesy puns and happy aesthetic." -- Read our review

* GameSpot's Best Of Lists will be updated periodically as new games worthy of inclusion are released on their respective platforms.

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aserejejadeje

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RIFT: Free In-game Items And 16 Slot Bag Code: 73QGL9REE9MYD9K6HG3Z

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skhedkar

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Compare to other best games list this list is more accurate, but only 15 games!
here is my list of 101 best free PC games!

<< LINK REMOVED >>

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Centurion95

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After a power surge my PC has been prone to sporadic crashes and plain old freeze ups. Because of it and the fact I have to save up money to replace parts I've had to rely almost exclusively on F2P games during the interim (why spend $65+ on a new game that you can only play 50% of the time?). Most are crap but games like TF2, PS2, and SWTOR are excellent in my opinion and have really made a difference in my gaming habits (kept me from throwing in the PC game towel.) I will probably be checking out Path of Exile next, given how much praise its gotten and the fact that its F2P system is done right.

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jenovaschilld

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<< LINK REMOVED >> sounds very much like a power supply problem. Replace that and the mobo.

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3v3ntWh0r1z0n

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Agree with the above list - I've played Tribes, DOTA2, LoL, TF2, World of Tanks, Hearthstone, and Planetside 2...

Though I'd mention Firefall as a good game as well. :)

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Ripper_TV

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So nothing has changed in a few years, all the same faces... except for Smite.

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Hekteur

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<< LINK REMOVED >> It's already been 6 years since Heartstone and DOTA 2 released??? I must have been hit really hard on my head because I was pretty sure both were 2013/1014 release. Or maybe it's, with Smite, 3 different games than the list from 6 years ago.... which make your statement kinda... invalid.

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babbothearm

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Most of these games are pretty old.

tf2: 7 years old

Lol: 5 years old

tribes ascend: 2 years old

Ghost recon phantoms: 2 years old

war of the roses: 2 years old

lotro: 7 years old

swtor: 3 years old

Ghost recon phantoms: 2 years old

world of tanks: 4 years old

planetside 2: 2 years old


You'd think the author could at least name some more recent f2p games.

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digitaldame

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Do you have some suggestions? I'm sure he'd love to add them to the list.

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OkRaider88

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I would add definitely add:


Warframe

Dragons and Titans

Dizzel (One of the best cover shooters I've seen in a while)

FireFall


And it doesn't matter is the F2P games on the list are older. If you played them when they came out, versus today, you'll see that ALL of them are better - more features, more modes, more content. Any F2P/MMO game that survives, gets better and better because of reinvestment by the devs. So there is nothing wrong with that list.

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Dwarfjuggler

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> PC gaming has hit a bit of a brick wall with decent games as of late, let alone decent free to play games.

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Gamesterpheonix

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Smite suffers from the same limitations as League of Legends because of its hero rotation. If the heroes were all available they could easily balance the heroes and make them more unique without having to make them all similar or OP. Also, I could NOT get over having my crosshair locked to ONE plane. lol. Sure distance and aiming just depend on your WASD movement and positioning but lol I thought it was hella lame.


The other games really are great though. I enjoyed Ghost Recon, DotA2, Path of Exile, Hearthstone, Tribes Ascend, War Thunder, Team Fortress 2 and Planetside 2 quite a bit. Though, Id say that Planetside 2 progression was way too damn slow. I couldnt keep going after the first few unlocks. Same thing goes for other games but it wasnt as hard to deal with for some reason.

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Dwarfjuggler

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Smite's gods are fairly balanced for the most part. And they regularly update and keep the comments in mind from the community. As for the crosshairs you can completely remove them making this gripe of yours unnecessary to bring up at all.

Further you can often test all the gods with all pick motd gametypes where all the gods are available. Or simply pay 30$ to support the game, the devs, and such to unlock all current and to be released gods.


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sigmact

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sadly the list is almost made of MOBA, with i dont play :/

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RickPhoenixxx

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Are you rich? lol. People complaining about console costs seem a bit silly now, this guy is a straight baller.

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Hekteur

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Those games are F2P all thanks to people like him.

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jasonmzk

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I really enjoy Warframe. If you've a PS+ account, PS4 players will get XP bonuses and 100 extra of the in-game currency called "platinum". Platinum is only available by purchasing it with real money, so this is a good deal, imo.

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filemaster4

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What happen to Hawken. Its free to play, and it is one of the best in mech battle.

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XNEXUS666X

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Would have loved to play GR: Phantoms, but this goes with the list of UbiShite games that don't run on my PC.

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jasswolf

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It's never going to make a top 10/20/whatever list, but Quake3 still gets regular play via QuakeLive.

Just gotta avoid those using aimbots and the like, you'll know it when you see it. But otherwise it's Quake 3 in most of its original glory, launched via your browser for all of a 40 MB download IIRC.

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Grenadehh

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Tribes ascend needs to removed from t he list and DOTA2 and LOL, same genre. Too much path of exile/dota/otherwise wannabe oldschool dungeon crawler in here. And planetside 2? No. The only game on that list that isn't a MOBA that still has any steam in it's engines and a community is War Thunder.

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Not played tribes for a long time and not a fan of moba type games.. but POE is an awesome game and one of the best f2p models out there.

Planetside 2 is also a great game with some amazing battles ot be had.


Also WOT is still great fun and still has tons of people playing.


War Tunder is bloody good as well.

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beazermyst

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All these games are online only time suckers with payment incentives on the side. They scare me so I stay away, I don't have 500 hours to give away at random to something deemed "free". I hate the term free to play because it is never accurate. There are free games and then there are free to play games. One is simply any type of standalone game that is free to have for as long as I want, the other is a different game type with a clique multiplayer only formula that should really be called free to install not free to play, and when the servers go down so does the free game that is no longer in your possesion. Don't confuse the two gamespot. The article title is misleading.

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I have at times played all the above games without spending a penny on them.

I have subbed to WOT in the past because I enjoyed playing it and currently Sub to War Thunder and PS2 because I enjoy playing both of them but its not something I have to do but something I want to do so the devs can carry on maknig great games.

If you really wanted you could play them for nothing it would just take you a lot longer to get to the top tier tanks and planes in WOT and WT and a lot longer to unlock the different guns and stuff in PS2, but I play the above games with peoplr who have not paid a penny for them.


POE has no progression system like the above so no sub option just a cosmetic cash shop.


Anyway if you dont enjoy the games then thats fair enough as not every game can be fun for everyone but still these games can be played for nothing.



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beazermyst

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Like I said above, you can enter a casino play a few games receive free food all without spending a penny if you do it right. I just don't like the feel of the gaming structure. Its only online. Where as a good singleplayer game or a singleplayer game with good multiplayer on the side has to stand on it's own merits, these free to play games constantly have to find another way to suck us in or else they cease to exist. That is why to me it is dangerous to my time. The game will never end, and they will never stop trying to bring me back in, to something that has a label of "free".


On steam the most I have spent on a game is 30 bucks, yes I spent way more money than I ever have to in a free to play game, but I own it all, and I can never loose it. If I like it I will play it when I want, but I will never feel like I am missing out on anything that is happening without me. When I see free to play being pushed with huge efforts by companies like ea and valve, It just makes sense that they are not doing it with the consumer in mind. Just the consumers wallets.


And again I know that these games are in the truest sense free to play. But these games are not free to run for the devs, someone has to pay somewhere, and it is either going to be pay to win or pay in quality game experience. This all comes down to the title of Free to Play, It's deceiving, how about "Free to mostly enjoy" or "free to install" "free unless you want the timesavers pack". Pc Gamer has an article called best free games to play this week, and those are actually free. Free to play is it's own category and should not be lumped in with games that are free to own without consequence.


Oh well enough ranting. I just don't trust to many business practices. Just like steam sales are psychologically designed to get us to buy and participate the most in the sale, surely you cant think free to play games are free of any tricks and manipulation. Again, I have tried to play about 5 of the games up here, and all I walk away feeling empty (except for some team fortress 2). When I see some of my friends at college disappear for weeks and I see their steam profile with 200 hours in dota the past 2 weeks, I don't think they are just enjoying themselves, It just looks like they are trapped. Having "fun" playing something "free".

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deuely

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<< LINK REMOVED >> While I can sympathize with your point of view as there are many games that are heading into the F2P (Pay to Win) direction, you should not judge all F2P games by that same stereotype. Believe it or not there are some decent F2P games out there that don't require you to spend any money at all in order to enjoy the experience. War Thunder and Firefall are two F2P games that I happen to love and I have yet to spend a dime on them....and they don't require you to spend hours and hours and hours to get the same result that spending 5 bucks would do. Sure, that option is there if you want it but it is certainly not required. There are several games that have fallen into the Pay to Win paradigm but they aren't all that way. Do yourself a favor and give them a shot. They are free....what do you have to lose?

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beazermyst

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I have a lot of time to lose. I have tried to enjoy a lot of the games up here but they all feel hollow to me, requiring similar actions over and over again, often with an emphasis on reaching the next level experience, so that you can then what? be better than another player, big whoop. They are completely dependent on other people playing, and if the servers go down so does the game. And like I said this article title is misleading. There is a difference between free to play and free to own.


Like you said the option to spend money is still there. I don't like it when any game has a store in the game. When I jump into a game I should not be reminded that I need to have a physical wallet next to me just in case I want to play a "better" experience. Sure you can play almost all the games above without ever spending a dime, but it just feels odd to be reminded about real money while playing a game.


To me I have the same opinion on this as I do with casino gamibling games, sure, some of them might be free to play and you might get free food without ever having to spend a dime, but the environment sucks and is dangerous to play in. No matter what free to play game I almost never feel like my best interests are being thought of. Just the way casino owners don't care about us. It's a way of making games that require tons of money to make for the devs but they want us to think we can have it for free without sacrificing any gaming experience. No such thing as a free lunch.

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deactivated-58270bc086e0d

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> That is my problem, people say there are loads of good FTP games and yet I've not played one out of a lot of them that was even remotely fun.

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myLEGENDs

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Like some ppl already said, Tera should be here.

And you guys should at least make a review of it :(

But i know that making a review of a MMO takes time.

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Zerohournow

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I tried Rift based on this article...unclear mechanics and surprisingly dull...

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Unclear mechanics ? I thought Rift was prob one of the best themepark mmos since wow.. well if you like that kind of thing.

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nbf4548

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I tried to like warframe, but it always felt like too little game spread too thin. So the fifth time I saw the cutscene of me entering a level through the air duct I quit for good. (Sloppy writing by the way, using the air duct trope.) My iPad is basically a dedicated Hearthstone machine now, it's so fun, and I initially looked down on it as a 'card' game.

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armyofbile

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You are missing Warframe on this list.

Something completely overlooked as I would assume it has much higher popularity than Lotro.

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hitomo

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@armyofbile they dont need to pay for advertisment anymore ... how u think lotro got on that list, or tribes ^^,

and why their is warthunder but no star conflict ...

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WillyWynn

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no TERA? The rest i agree

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vadagar1

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lets make a console free game list....


oh w8...

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> War Thunder works on the PS4 and you play against PS4 players on the PC.

World of tanks also has a Xbox 360 version.

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armyofbile

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<< LINK REMOVED >>
You're wrong there are quite a few f2p console games.

PS3 - Defiance, Dust 514, Ace Combat Infinity, SoulCalibur Lost Swords, DoA 5 ultimate, Spartacus Legends, Tekken Revolution, Uncharted 3 multiplayer, Everybody Dance, Singstar, DC Universe*, Zen Pinball 2, Pinballistik.

PS4 - Warframe*, Blacklight Retribution, DC Universe, Pinball Arcade.

Xbox 360 - AirMech Arena, Warface, Ascend: Hand of Kul, World Series Poker, Spartacus Legends, Harm's Way, Happy Wars, Air Band, TotemBall, Doritos Crash Course, Aegis Wing, Mars Rover Landing, Kinect Party, Battle Stuff, Hexic HD.


From those I would play Warframe, Blacklight, Ascend, AIrmech, Soulcalibur, doa, tekken, dust 514, and defiance.

Not a great list but there is one, and one well worth having.


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Patohua1

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This is actually the list of Best F2P Multiplayer Games for people only willing to play whatever the masses are playing. Popularity does not always equal quality and I feel like, as a site that essentially helps control popularity by what it says, you guys should have thought a little harder about your choices and picked higher quality games than World of Tanks -.- If we wanted a top 10 list of the most advertised games right now, we could just look at our Facebook ads.

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Caldrin

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The majority of games on that list are really good.

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trugs26

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@Patohua1 The comments section exist for a reason. Append your suggestions instead of being completely cynical. Users read the article, and most of the time scroll to check the comments too. This is a community, not a 1 way street.

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BrunoBRS

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<< LINK REMOVED >> popularity usually means the devs got something right. but please do list your own top 10 best free to play games then.

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babbothearm

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@BrunoBRS @Patohua1 Tribes ascend is dead. Hi-rez did a lot more wrong than they did right with that game.

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hitomo

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> hahahahahah

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