Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Amazon Spring Sale
  • New Games for 2026
  • Submit your game clips
  • GDC
Don't miss these
Gabe Newell in a white shirt
Games "Gabe cannot buy yachts with wishlists": Steam expert begs devs to make the most of their hit games
A fox shopkeeper has a Lucky Cat figurine on the counter in Piece by Piece
Games Two indie games with the same name accidentally launched days apart, so the devs averted disaster by working together:
Roblox promo codes
Games Roblox promo codes list (March 2026) with all the latest working codes
Monopoly Go dice links
Mobile Gaming All free Monopoly Go dice links (March 2026) for free dice and more
A screenshot of the Steam Spring sale 2026 banner, featuring a blue dragon and a cartoon chicken pulling on its tail.
Games Here's the 10 best Steam Spring Sale games I recommend picking up so far
Gabe Newell photo
Games A clip of Valve's Gabe Newell nailing the piracy issue is making the rounds online and only feels more relevant today
Best free Steam games - Doom Eternal image showing a large armored enemy with a gun for an arm
Action Games 25 Best free Steam games you can play in 2026
Team Fortress 2 soldier holding two grenades
Action Games 25 Best free PC games to play in 2026
Angry Battalion
Games Sony removes over 700 shovelware games from the PlayStation Store, one publisher plans to continue
A fox and bunny face-off in Piece by Piece
Games "Weird" Steam launch of two different games with the same name ended in 3x more sales than expected
How to download free PS5 games
PlayStation How to download free PS5 games
Key art for World of Warcraft: Midnight showing Lor'themar Theron grimacing in golden armor with a huge golden sword ready to fight back the darkness
World of Warcraft World of Warcraft guild known for raid-busting exploits disqualified from new Midnight Mythic race by Blizzard
The Sims 4 burglar
The Sims The Sims 4 Marketplace is coming with paid mods – because that's definitely what fans of EA's life sim want
Cropped Helldivers 2 art from the official 'Save Cyberstan' poster.
Third Person Shooters Helldivers 2 players cheated so hard that Arrowhead had to "disable the Galactic War" and change a Major Order
Arc Raiders character holding golden sledgehammer on dark blue starry background
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders has officially sold 12 million copies, so Embark's giving everyone a free gold hammer
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Battlefield 3

EA gives away a huge number of free games... by mistake

News
By Justin Towell published 15 October 2012

A free code that wasn't tied to one account? Oops

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Electronic Arts recently ran a survey promotion on its online digital distribution service, Origin. Fill out some questionnaires, get a download code for any $20 game. It's the sort of promotion that happens all the time. But EA's code wasn't tied to the participant's account, nor did it expire after one use. No, with a simple log-out trick, it just kept on giving, allowing some gamers to download loads of games without paying a single penny.

According to Kotaku, the loophole took a good while to fix, by which time countless games had been downloaded. There were some corkers available, too - look at this gamer's 90GB haul:

Above: Some gamers downloaded over 15 games using various accounts

You may like
  • Fortnite character dancing Epic says only 16 to 18% of people claiming free games on the Epic Games Store buy games there afterwards
  • A screenshot of Fortnite's Jonesy looking serious. Even Epic says Epic Games Store free games boost Steam versions, with concurrent Steam players rising 40% on average
  • Team Fortress 2 soldier holding two grenades 25 Best free PC games to play in 2026

Acquiring free games through an exploit is stealing and it's explicitly stated in the terms of service that taking advantage of exploits will result in termination of your account. But seeing as a lot of people just signed up to Origin as a result, perhaps EA will turn a blind eye this once. Perhaps.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Platforms
Justin Towell
Justin Towell
Social Links Navigation
Freelance Writer

Justin was a GamesRadar+ staffer for 10 years but is now a freelance writer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Read more
Fortnite character dancing
Games Epic says only 16 to 18% of people claiming free games on the Epic Games Store buy games there afterwards
 
 
A screenshot of Fortnite's Jonesy looking serious.
Games Even Epic says Epic Games Store free games boost Steam versions, with concurrent Steam players rising 40% on average
 
 
Team Fortress 2 soldier holding two grenades
Action Games 25 Best free PC games to play in 2026
 
 
arknights endfield best teams comps
RPGs Oops, Arknights Endfield accidentally charged 1,800 players $80,000 in Paypal disaster before the devs could stop it
 
 
Best free Steam games - Doom Eternal image showing a large armored enemy with a gun for an arm
Action Games 25 Best free Steam games you can play in 2026
 
 
Ashes of Creation cinematic trailer screenshot shows a character looking at a tall statue.
MMO Games Steam is giving some players refunds for Ashes of Creation after leadership resignation and mass layoffs
 
 
Latest in Action
Sam Porter Bridges flexes for the camera in Death Stranding 2
Action Games Death Stranding 2 dev says Hideo Kojima "wanted more people to enjoy" the sequel
 
 
Kiln key art featuring colorful spirit-inhabited pots duking it out
Action Games I built the biggest, ugliest vase Kiln would let me and immediately got bullied by better potters
 
 
God of War
God of War Former God of War dev thinks "the plan was to do Egyptian at some point"
 
 
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows players have sunk over 334 million hours into the game and pet 26 million cats
 
 
God of War protagonist Kratos, splattered in blood, looks pensive
God of War God of War devs didn't expect to spend 4 years in development: They "crunched like motherf***ers"
 
 
The Legend of Zelda Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan says Breath of the Wild is "the greatest game ever made"
 
 
Latest in News
Tomodachi Life: living the Dream
Simulation Games Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream demo leaves Miis "lobotomized" after you progress too far
 
 
A side-by-side of the Meta Quest 3 and 3S, separated by an orange line
VR Meta sends more mixed signals about its future in VR with more layoffs at Reality Labs
 
 
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars Movies Lord and Miller seemingly confirm they were signed on for more than one Han Solo Star Wars movie
 
 
PS5 Pro reveal from trailer
Hardware PS5 consoles are getting even more expensive next week, so a PS5 Pro will soon cost you $900
 
 
A young girl swaddled in rags awakening from death
Horror Movies If Evil Dead Rise was a "rocket ship fuelled by blood" then Lee Cronin's new Mummy movie is "more of a maze"
 
 
Half-Life 2 key art.
Games Former Half-Life 2 writer calls out Epic CEO over layoffs, says Valve is "better" at making money
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Ready or Not 2 trailer screenshot with Samara Weaving on right screaming in chair and Kathryn Newton on left with Steam Deck over head.
    1
    I just spotted the Steam Deck in a big horror movie sequel, and it's film debut highlights a specific handheld flaw
  2. 2
    Former Half-Life 2 writer calls out Epic CEO over layoffs, says Valve is "better" at making money
  3. 3
    Lord and Miller seemingly confirm they were signed on for more than one Han Solo Star Wars movie
  4. 4
    Anime Ascendants codes (March 2026) for Gems and Magic Tokens
  5. 5
    PS5 consoles are getting even more expensive next week, so a PS5 Pro will soon cost you $900

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...