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GameShadow goes gratis

Game updates and other content will be available for free download from now on.

24 Comments

GameShadow, the online game update and patching service, has announced that it is now in a position to be able to abolish its subscription fee. The consumer base of more than 300,000 PC gamers will be able to download up to 1GB of content per month from the site for free.

More than 1,500 games and graphics cards are represented on the site, which offers patches, drivers, demos, and trailers. Top titles currently featured include Hitman: Blood Money and Tomb Raider: Legend. Nicholas Lovell, CEO of GameShadow, said: "We've been waiting to hit critical mass before offering the service for free...and feedback from subscribers has indicated that gamers find it hugely useful."

For those gamers who need more than 1GB of download capacity, a premium service will be available, allowing up to 30GB of downloads per month, exclusive competitions, the ability to turn off ads, and a free game (a choice from a range, including Crashday, King Kong, the Prince of Persia trilogy, and the Splinter Cell trilogy).

GameShadow launched in August 2003, and was one of the first sites to offer PC users an automated patching service. Konami, Eidos, Atari, and Ubisoft are among the publishers that lend the site their support. More information can be found on www.gameshadow.com.

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Avatar image for OultawVR
OultawVR

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uhhhh.....just use Filefront....free and fast....almost as fast as fileplanet with a subscription....this site seems wee--taa--did if they were charging...and only 1GB a month is not going to cut it.

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nintendorocks

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If GameShadow, which I have never heard of, was charging for patchs then they were not a very good website. Most games come with patchs for free or you can use Gamespot and there are many websites that offer patchs. I can't remember the website I use to download World of Warcraft patchs but they are all free.

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lhay-mehr

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You are servicing them. They know what games you have, are they cracked, your hardware, state of your software... They sell that information and charge you for it while they're at it. Obviously, they don't charge anymore, but their shop is not the only thing that feeds those servers. Whatever.

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NeoJedi

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Thanks a lot GameSpot, never knew of this site. It seems very interesting.

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gamecube120

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I agree with those of you who say Xfire and other sites have done this for free for quite awhile. I think what Gameshadow is riding on is the ability to do it all for you so you don't have to go to gamespot and other sites. The only issue that I see is, yes, it's exactly what Xfire already does. Plus, Xfire is now owned by Viaacom so I think Gameshadow has it's competition and work cut out for them.

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Avatar image for blackIceJoe
blackIceJoe

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well at least the PC gets stuff for free.

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Esben-Poulsen

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Nice! I remember using GameShadow once, but I stopped using it after my trial ended :P

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ClayMeow

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I agree 100% with Sydogg and Traiklin. How GameShadow ever made money is beyond me. Maybe that's why it's free now, because maybe now they'll get a few more people and their advertisers won't feel like they're wasting their money.

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comthitnuong

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sweet

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usoda

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SYdoggXxX, Have you ever wrote a line like that on the other post? It feels like I've saw a same thing in Gamespot. strange kind of dejavu.

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Avatar image for TraiklinX3
TraiklinX3

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@SYdoggXxX That's exactly what I was thinking. I've installed Two games now (Hitman Blood Money & I think Rise of Legends) and they both came with it, I thought it was a service like xfire only not as ram intensive. I never bothered with it since I had Xfire and their site didn't tell me exactly what it is they did. When I installed HBM It explained it in more detail and I had the same reaction you did. Xfire does that for me, if I go to the publishers website there are patches there, if I go to the games webpage I can get the update from there, if I go to my graphics card website I can get the updated drivers (or to different places and get modified drivers) so in the end they were/are charging you for something that is totally free anywheres on the net.

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jakeboudville

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this is great news for me

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SaintSadistic

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I just use FileFront if I really want a demo.

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Dimb

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ummm Xfire anyone?

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dwmorrow

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Nowadays, 1gb will only net you a demo or two. I remember when demos were like 15-30mb, tops. :P

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Rumstocker

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free anything is good for gaming

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elessartelrunya

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Wow...1 GB of patches for free, not bad, hopefully the servers can handle the load. If they can then this is definitely a good service.

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chrisdojo

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free is always good.

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3dmetrius

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Yeap, Now I now it exists. Thanks!

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alpha_company

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yeaaa.....freeeeee...at last :D

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Avatar image for SYdoggXxX
SYdoggXxX

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Sorry, but isn't this service kind of.... pointless? I mean you can always download patches, demos, trailers and all that stuff for free from sites like gamespot and others, plus plenty of games have a built-in update function. Not sure if this service offers any other benefits, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

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ubj007

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Good news for PC gamers.

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ubj007

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Good news.

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latinchemist

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Thanks Gamespot, never knew this site existed!

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