Payday: The Heist goes free for one day in October

If you fancy a free game about robbing and defending banks, then here's good news: Payday: The Heist is going free for 24 hours on October 18. This is happening thanks to the hard work of 1,050,000 fans, who undertook the laborious task of joining the Payday 2 Steam group. It's part of Overkill's Crimefest promotion, which rewards loot to those who join the group, providing the studio reaches a series of membership milestones.

So far the community has burnt through roughly a third of all possible offerings: at 1,100,000 all members will be gifted a Bain mask, while 1,500,000 members will see the reveal of 'secret stuff', though appropriately we don't know what that means. Overkill has compiled a convenient list of all possible rewards and the figures they need to reach. It's all very business-like.

If you haven't already joined the Steam group but want a free copy of Payday: The Heist, that's not a problem: you can join now. Once you download the game on October 18 it's yours to keep forever, but you must to do within the 24 hours specified.

Crimefest follows the discovery of a mysterious teaser website earlier this month. The site belongs to Overkill and is counting down to a reveal date in August. We're not sure what it is, but we'll find out in 16 days.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.