On the eve of Labor Day, two publishers announced they will offer some classics from their back catalog for free as preorder incentives. The first is France-based Ubisoft, which is now offering the original Far Cry gratis to those who preorder Far Cry 2 from its online store for $49.95. Released in 2004, the Crytek-developed shooter was hailed as one of top first-person shooters of its day, and was a finalist for GameSpot's FPS of the year. The deal is available only to residents of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Meanwhile, Electronic Arts--which owns part of Ubisoft and publishes Crytek games--announced it, too, will be giving away a game as a preorder incentive. Those who order Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 via GameStop, Best Buy, or the EA Store will be able to download Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 for free. The game is available in a $49.99 standard edition and $64.99 premier edition for the PC or $59.99 for the standard Xbox 360 edition. Retailers are currently listing Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 with a mid-November release date.
EA also announced that, to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Command and Conquer series, it will be offering the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert for free to everyone. The game will become available at 12:00 a.m. PT Sunday, August 31, at the official Red Alert 3 site, Redalert3.com.