At E3 2011 , GamersGate announced that it would be offering free video games in exchange for advertisement views . Players could download a game for free but , prior to playing it , would have to watch a short advertisement selected by GamersGate 's advertising partner , Blind Ferret Media . Advertisements would not be inserted during gameplay . The new program , called " FreeGames " , was set for beta release in mid-June 2011 . Interest among gamers was so high that 10 thousand beta signups were made within the first few hours . The official start of the program was intended to be 1 September 2011 and to offer some 200 games . GamersGate CEO Theo Bergquist stated that the company 's long-term goal was to offer as many of its 3000 games as possible under the FreeGames program . Bergquist 's claims that this was the first program of its kind were refuted by '' Shacknews ' '' Alice O'Conner , who pointed to a similar failed experiment by Ubisoft in 2007 . However , in the following weeks GamersGate 's beta run proved to be a success
E3 2011
E3 2011
GamersGate