The Epic Games Store is continuing its annual tradition of giving away one game each day over the holiday period, and on the night before Christmas, it's Striking Distance Studio's maligned spiritual successor to Dead Space: The Callisto Protocol.
Epic kicked off this year's barrage of free games with Hogwarts Legacy the night of The Game Awards 2025, which was free from the night of the show, December 11, until December 18. Following that, on December 18, Epic began giving away one free game a day. So far, the store has given away:
- Hogwarts Legacy (Dec. 11-18)
- Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (Dec. 18)
- Eternights (Dec. 19)
- Blood West (Dec. 20)
- Sorry We're Closed (Dec. 21)
- Paradise Killer (Dec. 22)
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Dec. 23)
- The Callisto Protocol (Dec. 24)
The Callisto Protocol is arguably the biggest game to be given away since Hogwarts Legacy kicked things off, though, as a Christmas Eve giveaway, it is a tad disappointing considering it has previously been a free giveaway game on the Epic Games Store.
Tomorrow's giveaway for Christmas Day, and the final game that will be given away on January 1, 2026, are usually the bigger titles compared to everything else, with previous years gifting players games like Death Stranding Director's Cut.
If you've never played The Callisto Protocol, then you can't really go wrong with picking it up for free. Yes, it did so poorly that it may go down as Glen Schofield's final game, its Metacritic score may have been the cause for Krafton's stock to take a dip, and yes, even Schofield admitted that it was pushed out the door too early.
But for all its faults and resulting consequences, if you're a fan of horror games, then it's worth your time to give The Callisto Protocol a try. It definitely doesn't reach the heights of Dead Space, but it's focus on melee combat over ranged cranks up the tension, and if you have the hardware for it (now that its biggest issues have been patched out), it is a stunning visual treat of a game.
As Kai Tatsumoto highlighted in his review back in 2022, "One area that The Callisto Protocol absolutely excels in, however, is in the overall presentation and graphical design. There's nary a single square inch of Callisto and Black Iron Prison that doesn't capture that derelict, abandoned spaceship vibes, complete with ambient sounds of creaking pipes or rustling footsteps in the far distance."
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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