Total War Saga: Troy's Free 24-Hour Launch - How it Could Backfire...

In an unusual and practically unheard of move, Creative Assembly and Sega have announced that, on the 13th August, the next entry in Total War series, Total War Saga: Troy, will not only launch on PC as an Epic Games Store exclusive, but it'll be free to claim and keep for the first 24 hours of its release too. That's right; if you're speedy about it, the newest Total War game can be yours, forever, absolutely free.

The long-running turn-based strategy series is making a move to the Bronze Age, covering the Trojan War. Tim Heaton, CSO at Sega Europe, expresses excitement for the game's launch: "We can bring the tales and legends of Troy to a wide audience through Epic’s massive platform". Discussing the free 24-hour launch, he states that "it also means new players will get to try Total War for the first time, experiencing the unique gameplay that the series is famous for".

Epic must have stumped up quite a mound of cash to secure 12 months of exclusivity AND cover the cost of lost launch day sales. It's a generous move, and one that is clearly intended to entice new players to the franchise, but there's a shred of doubt in my mind as to what it could mean for the long-term success of the game.

The perception of a game's value is something that the gaming audience is ever vigilant of.  Nintendo, for example, is infamous for keeping the prices of its games high to maintain the value of its brand. People respect this, and it helps cement Nintendo's products as high-value items. Most games, however, gradually lose value over the months and years to the point where many end up so cheap they're practically free and regarded as such. Payday 2, for example, would struggle to sell at its full-price of £7.49 now that the £0.74 Steam sale of late 2019 has reduced its perceived value so significantly. In 2017, OVERKILL even gave away five-million copies of the game away for free.

When it comes to Total War Saga: Troy, Creative Assembly and Sega could be sending the game on a fast-track to devaluation. After that initial 24 hours, any potential customer will have to contend with the knowledge that they're paying for something that many received for free. The notion that Total War Saga: Troy is a 'free' game will follow it forever and could easily cause its value to drop far quicker than is normal for the series.

I'm no market analyst though, just a consumer who keeps a close eye on game sales. At the very least, this launch will be an interesting case study into how game sales and giveaways are affecting their value as products. In today's age of Epic Store freebies, Twitch Prime giveaways and other instant game libraries, that's a valuable thing.

Total War Saga: Troy launches as a 12-month Epic Game Store exclusive on PC on 13th August.