The second best-selling video game of all time is now available for free. Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), a seven-year-old open-world title by the legendary Rockstar Games, is now available to be downloaded for free for Windows PCs via the Epic Games Store—until May 21.
Despite the game having already shipped over 120 million copies worldwide, there are still plenty of players waiting to try it out—small wonder that they would rush to take it for free given that it is still selling for upwards of Rs 2,000 on the Rockstar store. So many people rushed to download it that the surge in traffic on the Epic Game Store website temporarily brought the platform to a halt.
The move to release it for free is part of Epic Games strategy of releasing one game for free every week.
Downloading GTA V for free is a simple affair now: Visit the Epic Games Store and register for an account. You will need to download the Epic Games Client and install it. If you already have one, log in.
Click on the link that says GTA V: Premium Edition (note that the game is intended for 18+ audiences). Then, click on the Get button.
The game will not install if you do not have at least 65 GB of space (on some systems, it requires 95 GB), however. Since this is a tall asking price for some, you might need to clear some space on your hard drive.
For those who already have games installed via Steam, you can try the option of moving your installed games files to an external drive while you download GTA V onto your system for now.
This can be done by creating a new Steam library folder in your external drive.
You can do this by going to to Steam > Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders.
Then, click on the option to Add Library Folder. Add the folder in the drive of your choice.
Then, go to your Steam Library and select the game you want to move. Click on Properties > Local Files > Move Install Folder.
This should clear up some space. However, simply having the space for GTA V is not enough—make sure you meet the minimum system requirements for the game. According to Rockstar, here are the requirements.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
Memory: 4GB
Video Card: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space: 65GB
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
Memory: 8GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space: 65GB
If your system still does not meet the grade, you could explore installing mods that reduce the game’s graphics settings to a level that even integrated graphics cards can handle.
