Best Websites to Download PC Games for Free
Downloading PC Games for free is no new thing — in fact since the time people were playing DOS games in the 90s, there have been video game crackers and copyright protection for games. During the pandemic, more and more gamers found themselves stuck at home with nothing to do. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars buying random games on Steam and GOG.com, many users prefer downloading them for free. While this is considered piracy and is illegal in most countries, it is still a very common practice. This educational post provides a list of the most popular websites to download pirated PC games for free. Note that this list is not exhaustive and many popular websites will be skipped, but this is nevertheless an accurate review of the top websites to download PC games for free in 2022. Note that if you are looking exclusively for older games, we have an article reviewing the best websites for downloading old PC games.
GameTrex
URL: https://gametrex.com
Download type: DDL and Torrents
Monthly visitors: 2+ million users
GameTrex is a website which has been around since 2018, delivering the latest PC games for free. They offer both torrents and DDLs (using the mega.nz) host and currently have over 5000 games in their database. A great thing about Gametrex is they have instructions for each game, so you’re sure that you will always have a working game. They also have a comments section which allows you to ask for and receive help.
FitGirl Repacks
URL: https://fitgirl-repacks.site/
Download type: Torrents and user-uploaded DDL
Monthly visitors: 32 million users
Our top website pick for downloading PC games in 2022 is FitGirl Repacks. FitGirl is a group of Latvian repackers that take cracked games and compress them into an installable package. The result is a much smaller downloadable file which makes it much faster to download. However, the installation time of the game will usually be longer as the game has to be unpacked before it’s installed. FitGirl lists the most popular games, and although the game catalogue is smaller than other websites on this list, FitGirl is one of the must reputable and trusted sources of these games. This is why the FitGirl website is the most popular site on the list. The installation process of the games FitGirl cracks is also very easy, you simply run the installation file, follow the steps for setup, and the full version of the game will be installed on your PC. The major drawback to using FitGirl repacks is the fact that she uploads her games to P2P torrents only, meaning you must use a torrent client to access the files. However if you really need direct downloads, almost every game (particularly for newer uploads) has user-uploaded links to DDL websites such as MEGA and Google Drive.
OldGamesDownload
URL: https://oldgamesdownload.com
Old Games Download lists thousands of working PC games, as well as games on other platforms. The website has a lot of rarer educational video games which cannot be found anywhere else, and is especially useful as most of their games appear to be tested. Additionally, the website has an active community where you will find a lot of instructions and help from other users in the comments section. Overall, this website is a nostalgia goldmine which we would recommend our users to try.
RARBG
URL: http://rarbg.to/
Download type: Torrents
Monthly visitors: 50+ million users
For more experienced pirates that are comfortable using torrents, RARBG is one of the best spots for downloading free PC games. Technically a torrent aggregator, RARBG is unique in that it vets all uploads to ensure all the games that are uploaded are safe for the end-user to download. There are dozens of both the most obscure, and most popular, games uploaded on a weekly basis, and chances are you are most likely to find the game you are looking for on RARBG. This is particularly true for finding cracks by the most popular scene groups, including CODEX and SKiDROW. The website also features a comments section, where you’ll find other users help guide you to install more complicated games. Unfortunately, RARBG does not have a DDL option, which is why many users prefer to use one of the other websites listed here instead.
1377x
Download type: Torrents
Monthly visitors: 23+ million users
1377x is one of the most popular torrent websites where users can download games, movies, music and more for free using torrent magnet links. Used by millions of users, 1377x is slightly less restrictive than RARBG in terms of who can download, which is why you are more likely to encounter some more suspicious uploads. However, the plus side to this is that users have a wider availability of options in terms of which torrents they want to download. Additionally, it also means that virtually every PC game of modern times can be downloaded from 1377x with a safe download link.
DODI Repacks
URL: https://dodi-repacks.site
Download type: Torrents and DDL
Monthly visitors: 5+ million users
Similar to FitGirl Repacks, DODI Repacks is an alternative trusted source of repacked games. Arguably with better compression than FitGirl, DODI Repacks is extremely popular on Reddit where their uploads are regularly shared. DODI Repacks is relatively new compared to other websites on this list, and as such their video game list is much smaller. However, you can rest assured that the games that are listed (which include most popular contemporary AAA and Indie games) are almost guaranteed to work, and are safe to download from.
IGG Games
Download type: DDL (torrents on sister site)
Monthly visitors: 20+ million users
IGG Games is one of the oldest and most popular websites on this list. With a huge and active user-base, it also has the biggest database of free PC games you can probably find on the internet. IGG Games hosts its game downloads on a wide-range of continually updated file mirrors, which include MEGA.nz and Google Drive. Furthermore, the sister website of IGG-Games, PCGamesTorrents, also lists the same games with a torrent magnet link for users that prefer to download via P2P. The main disadvantage of using IGG Games is the abhorrent amount of ads present on the website. Additionally, clicking on a download will lead you to redirection pages which have been known to contain bitcoin miners. There have also been multiple user reports on Reddit about IGG-Games adding infected files to certain games. To top things off, IGG-Games partook in a lot of shady practices, notably adding their own DRM to cracked video games. For these reasons, we would not recommend using IGG-Games to download games unless absolutely necessary (for example you can’t find the game anywhere else).
FreeGOGPCGames
URL: https://freegogpcgames.com
Download type: Torrent
Monthly visitors: 2+ million users
Free GOG PC Games is a unique website in this list in that it only uploads games that are (or were) available for purchase from GOG.com. If you’re looking for GOG releases, then this is your go-to website. It lists thousands of GOG games available as torrent links which are regularly updated by the website’s responsive team. The game’s are DRM-free (as are all GOG games) and therefore very simple to install. Unfortunately, the website’s uploads are not available as direct downloads.
SteamUnlocked
URL: https://steamunlocked.net
Download type: DDL
Monthly visitors: 13+ million users
SteamUnlocked is one of the newest websites on this list. Originally started as “CroHasIt”, SteamUnlocked makes its distinction with how easy it is to play the game after downloading. This is because every game available on SteamUnlocked is “pre-installed” — meaning once the game is installed, all the user has to do to play is simply run the game and play. This simplicity has made the website an extremely popular choice amongst gamers, especially newer pirates. However, one of the biggest drawbacks of the website is its slow download speeds. All of the website’s games are hosted on just one file mirror (UploadHaven), a website which limits download speeds to up to 200kb/s. Any faster download speeds can only be accessed by paying for a “pro” plan on the UploadHaven website, a no-go zone for pirates seeking free content. Additionally, recent user reports have suggested that Steamunlocked has been taking their games from IGG-Games, a website which has been known to distribute malware.
