UPDATE:

Multiple users have informed us that this code has been invalidated. With the finicky nature of this entire promotion, give it a go anyway for the hell of it if you have a few minutes to spare.  If you’re just seeing this post now and it truly has been taken down, though, I’m sorry for ever getting your hopes up. As a slightly-more-expensive alternative, why not pick up this Square Enix pack from Amazon for under ten bucks?

ORIGINAL:

It’s tough to stay excited about the excellent Dishonored or an upcoming Call of Duty when your wallet won’t stop sighing to ruin the mood. If only some superhero would descend from the heavens and fling us a free game to stay engaged…

…Wait, what the heck is the money-hungry EA doing here?

Through an apparently very under-the-radar promotion, one sub-$20 downloadable PC title may be picked up for the low, low price of nothing at all via EA’s Origin distribution service. Simply stroll on into the this-is-definitely-not-Steam Origin store, find something special priced at $19.99 or below, add it to your cart, and punch in promo code OS3874XVC to redeem your free prize!

Note that this code only seems to jive for North American audiences, and not all games in this price range work. Still, we’ve seen success with the following list of titles:

  • Battlefield 2
  • Battlefield 2142
  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2
  • Bulletstorm
  • Burnout Paradise
  • Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  • Crysis
  • Crysis Warhead
  • Dead Space
  • Dead Space 2
  • Dragon Age: Origins
  • Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
  • Dragon Age II
  • FIFA 12
  • Mass Effect 2
  • Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
  • Mirror’s Edge
  • Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
  • Need For Speed Shift II: Unleashed
  • The Saboteur
  • Shank
  • Sim City 4
  • Spore

Individual results are inconsistent across different accounts, but anything’s worth a shot for the potential promise of a free game, right?