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  1. Games
  2. RPGs

Beloved Metroidvania Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is free until tomorrow

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By Jordan Gerblick
Published 23 December 2025

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A screenshot from Bloodstained
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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the acclaimed spiritual successor to Castlevania, is free for a very limited time on the Epic Games Store, giving you less than 24 hours to claim this beloved Metroidvania as a nice little holiday present for yourself.

In celebration of the festive time of year, Epic has been giving away a free game every day for a couple of weeks, with today's being Bloodstained. All you have to do to snag it for yourself is head here and hit "get," at which point you'll be prompted to sign into your Epic Games Store account. From there, you can download and install the game. Boom.

It's worth reiterating that the game will only be free until December 24 at 8am PT / 11am ET, so if you're like me and see something cool and then kind of just forget about it until it's too late, it might be best to just settle the check right away. Yes, there will be another new free game on Epic's store tomorrow and every day through December 31, but exactly what those games will be remains a mystery until the day. So far, we've gotten Paradise Killer, Sorry We're Closed, Blood West, Eternights, and Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel.

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As it turns out, it's a great time to play (or replay) Bloodstained, as developer ArtPlay is cooking up a prequel, Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, to be released on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC at some point in 2026.

"There's always a loose end, trailing off into the distance": Inside the mind of a Metroidvania creator and how they spin up mysteries

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Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
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Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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