Indeed, that is correct. But depending on the legislation of ''x'' country, other elements may or must be present for an act to be considered piracy. This is the illegal possession of copyrighted material in an irregular manner. It could even be argued that there is malice and breach of trust on the part of the client/user to keep an irregularly obtained legal copy.

The simple and honest answer would be because people like things to be easy... The worst thing is that this kind of practices affect the industry and the consumers who legally pay for a game.

The results are the same. Simplified, someone has a copy of a game he didn't pay for, which wasn't free for this someone to begin with. This is against all ethics and every person should be able to clearly see that.

I'd go one step further though: As a little thought experiment, say, I did keep a "legal copy" of the game from its free weekend... (A "legal copy"? What's that exactly? Isn't a pirated copy all the same? If the game has no copy protection it might even be identical bit-by-bit... IMHO a copy is a copy, regardless of how I obtained it. But the legal and ethical status of me having the copy is very different...)
I'd be keeping it but not playing it, and no harm would be done, even though this still clearly isn't legal. Say, I then rediscovered said game, played it, liked it: My ethics would now command me to buy it, to legalize this act of me playing it, and to support the developer of the game, since – I keep coming around to this simple statement: it clearly wasn't a free giveaway to begin with.

Say, I started playing it much later (after the free weekend), but didn't like it after ~1 hr playtime, and deleted it: I'd consider this a "try before you buy" and also no harm would be done. I clearly never would have bought this game. Would it be legal? No. Ethical? Well, more ethical than to keep the copy forever.

The takeaway, and also the reason for the "free weekend" promotions, is that people try something, because it's free for a short period of time, in the hopes that they might enjoy it. If they do, chances are they also buy it. So the ethics would be the same if I kept the copy and play it later, provided the outcome doesn't change. (Delete after playing for a short while, or buy.)

Keeping the game forever does change the outcome. And now it's piracy... (IMHO.)

My point being: there is a gray area. But people should be able to make the distinction between what's free (a giveaway) and what's not free: a free weekend is not a keep, it's not a giveaway, however the game may be protected – or not.

DiRT Rally 2.0 on Steam has 4 DLC available for free for the next two weeks.

Finland (Rally Location)
Germany (Rally Location)
Sweden (Rally Location)
Wales (Rally Location)

https://www.gog.com/en/game/bloody_hell

I'm not sure if Bloody Hell is permanently free or if it's just a temporary promotion, but since it's free right now, it's a good idea to grab it while you can.

Permanently.

Bloody Hell!. ;)

To celebrate Metro: Last Light's 10th Anniversary, the original Complete Edition of the 2013 game will be available for free on
@Steam
from 18-25 May."

Epic Games:

Death Stranding: Standard Edition - Link

From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima
As Sam Bridges, your mission is to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America
Open world, some say it is a walking simulator
Give it a try. You be the judge of this GOTY

Features single player only.

All copies of the game will also additionally include:
• “Selections From ‘The Art of DEATH STRANDING’” Digital Book (by Titan Books)
• CHIRAL GOLD/ OMNIREFLECTOR “LUDENS MASK” SUNGLASSES (COLOR VARIANT)
• GOLD and SILVER POWER SKELETON
• GOLD and SILVER ALL-TERRAIN SKELETON
• GOLD and SILVER ARMOUR PLATE

UNLOCK IN-GAME ITEMS VIA STORY PROGRESSION

Other ongoing giveaways:
nothing yet

Next time: Mystery Game Tomorrow

https://store.steampowered.com/app/43160/Metro_Last_Light_Complete_Edition/

Metro last light is now posible to claime on steam

Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun free on GOG front page.

This example is stupid and wrong. The answer would be give everyone Vanilla ice-cream not Mint...pff

That post is almost 3 years old. Please take it elsewhere if you have to resurrect it.

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