Gaming has never been more expensive. We’re here to investigate why, and help you play more while spending less. Welcome to GameSpot Cheap Week.
As part of GameSpot’s Cheap Week, we’re running through why games and consoles are so expensive these days (hint: it’s a lot of AI and tariffs). We’re also providing some tips for how to save some money. One way of playing games that has become more popular and commonplace these days is by way of a subscription service. Maybe you don’t want to sign up for yet another membership–that’s entirely understandable–but it’s possible you already have a subscription that includes games that you might not have known about.
Below, we run through some of the subscription services you might not immediately associate with gaming, so it doesn’t include popular programs like Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, and Nintendo Switch Online, but those are all solid options for playing more games without buying titles outright.
Netflix
If you are one of the many millions of Netflix subscribers, you also get access to a growing collection of video games. A nice perk of playing games through your Netflix subscription is that it doesn’t cost anything extra and there are no in-game ads or microtransactions.
Netflix’s library of games includes mobile titles and games you can stream to your PC or TV. Some of the available titles on Netflix include ports of existing games like Street Fighter IV Champion Edition, Into the Breach, Sonic Mania Plus, Dead Cells, and Red Dead Redemption. The Netflix Games library also includes games based on Netflix IP, including Money Heist: Ultimate Choice, Love Is Blind Stories, Narcos: Cartel Wars Unlimited, and Stranger Things 1984.
Netflix also creates entirely original games, including the recently released horror game Unhinged. Filmmakers David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons) collaborated with developer Night School Studios on the project.
The New York Times
The esteemed publication The New York Times has grown and expanded in a lot of cool ways in recent years, including inroads in lite gaming. The company bought Wordle years ago, and that game continues to be free for everyone.
However, if you’re a NYT subscriber, you get a lot more than just Wordle for your money. The standalone “games only” NYT subscription also includes Spelling Bee, The Crossword, Spelling Bee, Crossplay, Connections, and more. If you subscribe to “All of The Times,” you also get these games, along with NYT’s news coverage, cooking content, and The Athletic.
GTA+
Maybe you subscribed to GTA+ for the numerous in-game perks for GTA Online, but did you know this membership also includes a library of games at no extra charge?
Some of the titles included with GTA+ include GTA V’s story mode, Red Dead Redemption, Bully, and LA Noire, along with older GTA games like Chinatown Wars and Liberty City Stories. GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition–which includes updated versions of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas–is included with GTA+ as well.
GTA+ is bundled with GTA 6 preorders, so Rockstar is obviously planning to keep the subscription service around for the time being. It remains to be seen, however, what kinds of additional perks might be available when GTA 6 launches in November.
Luna/Prime
Amazon Prime members get access to the company’s Luna streaming service for games at no extra cost with the Amazon Luna Standard plan. This includes a selection of games that currently include FC 26, Dispatch, Hogwarts Legacy, Goat Simulator 3, Fortnite, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated, Skyrim, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Dead Stranding, Alan Wake II, Fallout: New Vegas, and more. (An Amazon Prime subscription also gets you free games each month through services like GOG and Epic Games Store, but you need to claim them individually.)
Alternatively, people can subscribe to Luna Premium standalone for $10/month or add it on top of their existing Prime membership to get an even bigger library of games. Some of the titles included in Premium that aren’t in the standard version currently include Batman: Arkham Knight, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Madden NFL 26, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars Outlaws, among others.
Luna is a streaming service, so no dedicated local hardware is required beyond a computer to stream to. As of July 23, Luna games are now hosted in the Prime Video app alongside movies and TV shows under the “Games” tab.
Epic Games
Although it’s not a subscription, as part of its bid to get people to come over from Steam and to acquire new users, the Epic Games Store gives out a new free PC game (or multiple games) each week, as well as one or more free mobile games. These games are yours to keep, even after the freebie week ends.
In its 2025 Year in Review post, Epic said its “Free Games Program” helped drive discovery and engagement with the Epic Games Store. During the year, people claimed 662 million games via the program, with more than 77% of the freebies setting new all-time peak concurrent-user records on the Epic Games Store during the week they were made free. This created a “halo effect” across the PC category overall, Epic said, with player numbers rising on Steam as well.
