Ubisoft is giving away Watch Dogs for free

Ubisoft announced earlier this month that it would mark the holidays by giving away a couple of oldies but goodies, first World in Conflict and then after that, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. That plan has apparently changed somewhat, but in a good way, because it's added another game to the freebie festivities. 

From now (technically yesterday) until 5 am ET on December 23, the original Watch Dogs is free for the taking on Uplay. Hit up the "Happy Playdays" freebie page, log in if you need to, and the game will be automatically added to your library. And yes, it's permanent, as long as you get it before the offer expires. 

Ubisoft has also changed up the previous giveaways: World in Conflict was originally scheduled to be free only until December 11, while Black Flag was on the block from December 11-18, but both games are now free for the same period as Watch Dogs, so if you missed them the first time around you've got a second chance to make the score.

And if you've already played the original Watch Dogs but haven't yet made a move on the sequel, this isn't a bad time for that either: Watch Dogs 2 is on sale for $20 for the standard edition, $25 for the Deluxe, or $40 for the Gold.   

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.