The Iliad describes a lot of ships arriving on the shores near Troy, but that's nothing compared to the number of players who redeemed a free copy of Total War Saga: Troy during its 24-hour free giveaway period on the Epic Games Store. Publisher Sega says 7.5 million players claimed a free copy of Troy during the giveaway, exceeding even Sega's rosiest projections.
"We were optimistic but we couldn't have predicted this level of excitement," says Rob Bartholomew, chief product officer for A Total War Saga: Troy. "Now we get to welcome so many strategy players - new and old - to experience this incredible Saga. We're very happy."
Why would a publisher be happy about 7.5 million copies of their new game given out for free? Conventional wisdom suggests these are lost sales. But it's increasingly clear that the online games marketplace doesn't behave according to conventional rules and wisdom. When Epic partnered with Take-Two to make Grand Theft Auto V free earlier this year, it led to a record-setting quarter for the publisher. The free giveaway actually boosted GTA 5 sales to their highest point since its PC launch in 2015.
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