Epic Games Store Comes Back Online - And You Can Still Get GTA V Free

Yesterday was not a great day for the Epic Games Store. In keeping with its promotion where it gives away a free game each week, Epic served up a whopper of a free title yesterday: Grand Theft Auto V. The resulting rush brought the store to its knees for many hours as Epic tried to keep up with the droves of people trying to claim Grand Theft Auto V and the strain they were putting on servers.

Fast forward to this morning and it seems that things have finally leveled out. A quick look at the Epic Games status page shows us that the Epic Games Store is operational, as are Epic's Online Services, Fortnite, and Battle Breakers. Scroll down to the past incidents section and you can see that the problems yesterday stretched on for just about 12 hours.

If you've yet to head over to the Epic Games Store and claim a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, now seems to be the perfect time to do so. Epic is actually giving away the Premium version of GTA V, which includes the base game, "all existing gameplay upgrades and content," Grand Theft Auto Online, and the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack.

The Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack promises to "jumpstart your criminal empire in GTA Online." The pack comes with $1 million in GTA cash; six different properties including the Maze Bank West Executive Office and the Paleto Forest Gunrunning Bunker; 10 different vehicles; and three different weapons including a compact grenade launcher. Typically, that starter pack runs $10, but in the Premium edition, it's included as an extra.

Epic has running this free game promotion since the Epic Store launched, and it will continue to do so throughout the rest of 2020. Grand Theft Auto V is definitely among the biggest titles we've seen offered through these free game giveaways, but keep in mind that you'll need two-factor authentication enabled so you can claim it. If you've yet to turn on 2FA, be sure to check out our guide on how to do just that.