World War II multiplayer first-person shooter Letting all hell loose was offered for free on the Epic Games Store earlier this week – a limited giveaway that also benefited it on another platform. Publisher Team17’s 100-player military shooter, released in 2021, was available for free starting January 2 as part of Epic Games’ mystery giveaway. (The giveaway ends Thursday at 11 a.m. EST.) The giveaway led to a huge increase in player numbers on the Epic Games Store itself, where it was previously unavailable to play, but also increased the number of players on Windows PCs via Steam.

From January 2nd Letting all hell loose began its upward trend on Steam, reaching its highest concurrent player peak of 20,388 players on January 5th. (The overall high was 140,000 people across all platforms, the developer said on

The game, which pits groups of 50 soldiers against each other, is known for its realistic, tactical gameplay. It continues to enjoy popularity since its release in 2021, but the Epic Games Store giveaway gave it a big boost. However, because of this, players have reported longer queues and server issues. So why the rise on Steam, where? Letting all hell loose is noticeable not free? (It’s available for $35.99, down 40% from $59.99.) The Steam player count obviously doesn’t count players who access the game through the Epic Games Store launcher; About 40,000 people played the game for free through this platform. The resurgence is likely due to the power of friendship: people return to the game after it wears off, likely because their friends have a renewed interest in it after snagging it for free. Some die-hard Steam fans who like to have their games in one place may have made the purchase there too.