Epic Games Store shares cryptic teaser for final mystery free game of 2025

Epic Games Store is currently giving away the penultimate free game for the year 2025, and it turned out to be what some fans decoded from the hint. Like last time, an official staff member has shared a cryptic teaser for the December 31 giveaway, and it's not easy to decode.

The first part of the hint goes as "we did this in the past," suggesting that the upcoming free game will be a repeat. However, the second part adds "the clue has layers," which makes things confusing, and it's also worth noting that the storefront is less likely to give away a repeated freebie on December 31.

Taking a closer look at the past free games from Epic Games Store on December 31 can make things a bit easier, and here are the titles that were given away in the previous years:

• 2024 - Kingdom Come: Deliverance
• 2023 - A Plague Tale: Innocence (curr. $7.99 on Humble Bundle)
• 2022 - Mortal Shell
• 2021 - Salt and Sanctuary
• 2020 - Torchlight 2

While it might seem that there's no pattern, there's one, and it suggests that the upcoming game giveaway is likely an AA or a high-end indie title. Of course, given that it's the final giveaway of the year, Epic Games Store can also give away an AAA title.

Getting back to the clues shared by the Epic Games Store employee, it's likely that the game that's being referenced is ARK: Survival Ascend, which somewhat matches both clues. To be specific, the storefront has given away ARK: Survival Evolved in the past, and just like the predecessor, Survival Ascend has layers in terms of content depth.

That said, some are also guessing Death Loop, which also makes sense. Epic Games Store gave away the same title in the past, and the game has layers in terms of overall design. Regardless of what it turns out to be, the good part is that the reveal isn't far from now. It's set for December 31, 2025, at UTC 16:00, and that's also when the current free game will expire.