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| The fifth mystery free game could be a repeat. Pictured: edited cover photo of Detroit: Become Human. |
The surprise isn't always what you expect, but it's always free. Epic Games' annual holiday event continues to delight and confound gamers, blending blockbuster titles with hidden indie gems.
The Epic Games Store's 2025 holiday season giveaway has reached a critical midpoint, revealing its fifth free mystery game after days of fervent speculation and a widely circulated but inaccurate leak. The event, which began with the blockbuster giveaway of Hogwarts Legacy, has now transitioned into its daily mystery phase, offering PC gamers a new title to claim every 24 hours until the new year.
On December 21, the store officially revealed "Sorry We're Closed" as the fifth free offering. This survival horror title, which recently won a major Indie Game Award, replaces the previous day's free game, the eldritch horror western shooter "Blood West". The reveal effectively disproved popular theories that the fifth game would be a major AAA title like Detroit: Become Human or a repeat of a previous giveaway.
The Path to the Fifth Mystery Game
The 2025 holiday giveaway follows a structured format that has become a beloved tradition for Epic Games Store users. The event kicked off on December 11 with Hogwarts Legacy, one of the platform's biggest free games ever, which was available for a full week. This AAA title set a high bar for the promotion and led to widespread speculation about what might follow.
Beginning December 18, the format shifted to daily giveaways. Contrary to a leak that suggested Jurassic World Evolution 2 would be the first daily game, Epic surprised users with Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, a Norse mythology-inspired action roguelike. This immediately cast doubt on the credibility of the leaked list that had been circulating on gaming forums and social media.
The subsequent days brought:
- December 19: Eternights, a dating action game set during an apocalypse.
- December 20: Blood West, an immersive stealth FPS blending weird west legends with eldritch horror.
- December 21: The fifth game, Sorry We're Closed.
"Sorry We're Closed": The Award-Winning Fifth Game
So what is this newly available title? Sorry We're Closed is a retro-style survival horror game developed by à la mode games. It cleverly combines fixed camera angles reminiscent of classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill with first-person shooting sequences. Players take on the role of Michelle, who uses a magical "Third Eye" ability to see between worlds, a core mechanic used for exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat.
The game has garnered critical acclaim, holding an 82 average on OpenCritic with an 86% reviewer recommendation rate and "Overwhelmingly Positive" user reviews on Steam. Adding to its prestige, Sorry We're Closed recently won the Debut Game award at the 2025 Indie Game Awards. Notably, it was elevated to the winner's position after the initial victor, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, was disqualified for using generative AI in its development.
Normally retailing for $24.99, the game is free to claim on the Epic Games Store until 11 a.m. EST on December 22.
Debunking the Leaks and Speculation
The lead-up to the December 21 reveal was rife with speculation, much of it fueled by a detailed list that leaked online. This list claimed to outline the entire holiday giveaway, predicting high-profile titles like Detroit: Become Human, Mortal Kombat 11, and even Red Dead Redemption 2 for the final days of December.
A lively Reddit discussion captured the community's guessing game, with many users hoping for a major AAA reveal. However, as the daily games began to diverge from the leaked list starting on December 18, its credibility quickly evaporated. Experts and journalists pointed out several red flags, including the fact that some games on the list, like Terraria and Commander Keen, weren't even available on the Epic Games Store.
The theory that Detroit: Become Human might be the fifth game gained some traction because it was not discounted on Epic during other platforms' sales, but this has proven incorrect. Another theory suggested the fifth game might be a "repeat" from a previous year's event, which also did not come to pass.
How to Claim Your Free Games and What's Next
Claiming these daily freebies is straightforward:
- Log into your Epic Games Store account via the website or launcher.
- Navigate to the "Free Games" section.
- Find the current mystery game (currently "Sorry We're Closed") and click "Get."
- Complete the checkout process (you will not be charged), and the game is permanently added to your library.
Remember, each game is only available for 24 hours. "Sorry We're Closed" will be replaced by the sixth mystery game on December 22 at 11 a.m. EST.
Epic has confirmed a total of 17 free games for the entire holiday event. With five revealed, twelve mysteries remain, with giveaways scheduled through January 1, 2026. If the pattern holds, gamers can expect a diverse mix of indie darlings and possibly a few more major surprises before the ball drops on New Year's Eve.
The holiday giveaway remains one of the most anticipated events in the PC gaming calendar, proving that sometimes the mystery and the community speculation are just as fun as the free games themselves.