Plants vs. Zombies is Free on Origin

[Steven Bogos]

Plants vs. Zombies is Free on Origin

You have until the 29th of May to snag your free copy of Plants vs. Zombies.

Plants vs. Zombies may have already spawned a sequel and a weird third-person shooter spinoff, but EA isn't forgetting the game that kicked off the franchise, celebrating the original Plants vs. Zombies 5-year anniversary by giving it away for free. That's right, if you add Plants vs. Zombies: Game of the Year Edition to your Origin library before May 29, you'll unlock it permanently, for free.

To claim the game, simply go to the Official origin website or boot up your Origin client. The game, which usually costs $5, has been made free as part of Origin's "On The House" program, in which select titles are made free for everyone to add to their libraries for a short period of time. Previously, we saw Dead Space [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133314-Free-Dead-Space-Launches-Origins-On-the-House-Program] kickstart the program.

"There's no catch," EA explained when it launched the On The House program. "Grab full games, expansions and more at absolutely no cost. Just make sure to act fast because On the House specials can appear and disappear at any time."

Some would say that the "catch" is that you have to download and install EA's Origin client, but to be fair, it has been steadily improving since it launched back in 2011. And hey, who's going to complain about a free game?

Source: Origin [https://www.origin.com/en-au/store/buy/plants-vs-zombies/mac-pc-download/base-game/standard-edition]

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[happy_turtle]

That's right, if you add Plants vs. Zombies: Game of the Year Edition to your Steam Library before May 29, you'll unlock it permanently, for free.

If this were the case I'd be all over it...But yet again, Origin. I know some people say it's much improved, but I installed it recently and it was still a steaming pile of crap. Although admittedly it now only hogs 14% of my CPU instead of the 30% it used to.

 

[Furism]

Oh, EA, what happened to "Valve Sales Cheapen Intellectual Property [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.377755-Origin-Boss-Says-Steam-Sales-Cheapen-Intellectual-Property]" ?

 

[Caffiene]

celebrating the original Plants vs. Zombies 2-year anniversary

That would be the five year anniversary. (I was so confused for a minute. I couldnt believe it was only 2 years)

 

[Rad Party God]

Hmmm... cynical me would say something snarky about Origin being still shit and EA giving away a game everyone and their mother has already played.

Non-cynical me would appreciate the gesture, but would agree that Origin is still shit.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

Is there anyone left who has wanted this game but hasn't put up the money to pay for it?

It's not exactly expensive.

I was imagining that this thread was about the shooter going FTP with micro-transactions. Meh..

 

[weirdee]

In some ways, it only just serves to underline how much stuff you got with just buying the first game as opposed to whatever the heck happened with the later games.

 

[Legion]

It is the best out of the three games so definitely worth picking up. I find it kind of funny that EA felt the need to state there wasn't a catch though. At least they are aware of the lack of faith people have in them.

Still, they have done something good, so ought to be commended for it.

 

[Queen Michael]

Is there anyone left who has wanted this game but hasn't put up the money to pay for it?

It's not exactly expensive.

*raises hand*
That would be me. I didn't know how cheap it was, and anyway I prefer to use my money for candy and comics.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

Is there anyone left who has wanted this game but hasn't put up the money to pay for it?

It's not exactly expensive.

*raises hand*
That would be me. I didn't know how cheap it was, and anyway I prefer to use my money for candy and comics.

I remember buying PvZ for £2.50.

I've paid twice that for a pint and I've never had one of those last for 40 hours.

 

[OManoghue]

I like their On the House program a lot. It's what made me keep Origin after getting completely bored of Titanfall. It's like free PS+, give me a chance to play something I may never have tried. Even though the only games that have been free so far are Dead Space and Plants vs Zombies.

I'm also curious if Steam will/has to respond with something like this.

 

[Colt47]

I like their On the House program a lot. It's what made me keep Origin after getting completely bored of Titanfall. It's like free PS+, give me a chance to play something I may never have tried. Even though the only games that have been free so far are Dead Space and Plants vs Zombies.

I'm also curious if Steam will/has to respond with something like this.

Origin and Steam aren't even in the same league as far as competing against one another. Origin is more on par with Ubisofts DRM system or the now defunct Windows Live: they simply added a storefront to it to increase the utility of it. Really, no one should be using an online system designed first and foremost for DRM purposes and unfortunately Origin and U-play are both built with this mentality. The companies simply don't want to back off them because at this point they got too many things tied up with the systems, unlike Games for Windows Live, which was more so a proprietary system built by a third party (Microsoft).

It's kind of a shame as a lot more people would buy EAs titles if they didn't use the DRM system, even with all the horrible screw ups they have made over the years. Just look at Activision: They scorned an entire Diablo fanbase with the original release of Diablo 3, yet people aren't going up in arms and blacklisting the entire company product line (at least not on the same level as EA).

 

[Product Placement]

Oh my god free game!

Oh, wait... it's on Origin.

 

[RealRT]

Hmmm... cynical me would say something snarky about Origin being still shit and EA giving away a game everyone and their mother has already played.

Non-cynical me would appreciate the gesture, but would agree that Origin is still shit.

It's funny, my mom's not a gamer, but she played PvZ like there's no tomorrow.

 

[shado_temple]

And hey, who's going to complain about a free game?

Challenge accepted.

-The Escapist Community

 

[Metalrocks]

lol. i actually did get my self dead space since it was for free. i already have origin so this doesnt bother me really since it does work really well and downloads faster then steam. but since i own plants on steam, no use for me now.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Nice to see Destructoid is more or less at least humble that there's a free game to be had, on here it's the some old.

Keep staying typical and classy Escapist.

 

[Sassafrass]

Sweet, free game.
I'm fairly sure that I'm supposed to find something to complain about, but I like free stuff.