Best Free FPS Games in 2020

With Activision moving popular esports broadcast like Overwatch and Call of Duty to YouTube, there's the idea that audience growth isn't forthcoming. For anyone trying to go pro, watchful eyes are part of the process. So rather than shell out on another $60 game that might go down the same route, we've pulled together a list of the best free FPS games you can grow with without spending a buck and some paid games you can use free Google play codes and get that paid games using Google play codes.

Apex Legends (Xbox One, PS4, Windows)

It has been more than two years since Respawn Entertainment launched the excellent Titanfall 2, a full-priced multiplayer shooter that mixed brilliant on-foot gunplay with hulking, walking tanks that delivered deadly firepower. Rather than create a full sequel, the studio instead developed the free-to-play Apex Legends, a battle royale game cut from the same cloth as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's "Blackout" mode.

Set on an enormous map and currently limited to several dozen players divided into three-person squads, Apex Legends feels like a battle royale game made for people who don't typically enjoy the genre. There is still a circle that closes in on your position, but if you don't like where you spawned, you can find a device that flings you back into the air. If you happen to get killed early on, your teammates still have a chance to recover your "banner" and revive you at a special medical station.

These tweaks are placed on top of a gorgeous and varied map, and Respawn's signature snappy weapon controls are back in full force. It isn't Titanfall 3, but it's a spinoff that has already attracted more than 50 million players in a month.

PUBG Mobile and PUBG Lite (Mobile, PC)

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds first amassed a huge following on PC and later Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but the free-to-play PUBG Mobile offers a great alternative version for anyone itching to get their battle royale fix on the go. The game uses a combination of virtual buttons and sticks to create a shooting experience much better than it has any right to be, and with optional motion controls, you can even fine-tune your shot to take out the most distant targets with a sniper rifle. As with its big siblings, PUBG Mobile supports duo and team-based matches, and built-in voice chat allows you to coordinate with your teammates before you approach a new area.

You can actually play PUBG Mobile in either first-person or third-person perspectives, and you don't even have to have a mobile device to get in on the action. Publisher Tencent developed its own emulation tool so you can play the game from your PC with a mouse and keyboard setup. It won't have the same fidelity as the full PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, but it's completely free to play and just as addicting.

Tencent also recently extended the reach of its PUBG Lite release to almost anywhere other than North America. Initially restricted to Thailand, this free alternative to the original PC release also relaxes the more taxing system requirements, making it easier on older systems. If you had to settle for the mobile version because of an aging machine, PUBG Lite might be what you're looking for. Likewise, there's PUBG Mobile Lite if that 2014 handset is still your only option.

Call to Arms (Windows)

Its name certainly evokes images of Activision's Call of Duty series, and its setting isn't that far off from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but Digitalmindsoft's Call to Arms is a very different beast. At its core, it's a real-time strategy military game with destructible environments and offers a ton of control over how you complete a mission, but this is a "best free first-person shooters" list, and the game offers plenty of that, as well. Want to put your boots on the ground and fight with one of your soldiers in direct combat? Go right ahead, and you'll still be free to destroy environments in order to get the jump on your enemies.

There are paid versions of Call to Arms that offer additional downloadable content as well as single-player content, but the free version gives you access to the multiplayer mode, and you can progress just like you would in the full version. If you do decide to make the jump and purchase a paid package, you'll be able to transfer all your progress, too.

Paladins: Champions of the Realm (Xbox One, PS4, Windows, MacOS, Nintendo Switch)

Blizzard's Overwatch remains the king of the "hero shooter" multiplayer genre, but Hi-Rez Studios' Paladins: Champions of the Realm is a great alternative for those who don't want to sink $40 before they've even begun playing. Much like in Overwatch, you select from dozens of different characters spread across multiple classes such as "damage," "flanker," "support," and "front line," each offering a different style of play that can help your team to victory. The tree-like Grover, for instance, can deal out heavy damage with his ax while also healing nearby allies, and the crafty Pip makes use of explosive potions to catch enemies off-guard.

Unlike the set classes and abilities offered in Overwatch, Paladins allows you to customize your heroes using a deck building system. There are also pre-built deck loadouts for those looking to jump into a match with a solid chance of contributing, and with three different modes - Siege, Onslaught, and Team Deathmatch - you'll have plenty of opportunities to try the abilities out.

Team Fortress 2 (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)

Boasting beautifully-rendered graphics and a well-balanced class system, the lauded Team Fortress 2 still appeals to casual gamers and pros alike, garnering what is still one of the largest player bases on the Steam marketplace more than seven years after its initial debut. The game is a steadfast hybrid of fast-paced combat and intense strategy in which every one of the game's nine classes exhibits its own powerful strengths and crippling weaknesses.

Game modes are straightforward, primarily pitting two teams against one another in an effort to move a cart, capture select points, or steal a briefcase. It's highly competitive in nature, but it still caters to all skill levels. Like most multiplayer titles, it's about exploiting the Achilles heel of your enemies while protecting your own, but it relishes a stylized brand of humor that has become iconic for the Team Fortress brand. Few games have held up as well over the years, and to be honest, few probably will.

Crossfire West (Windows)

If you were just getting into PC gaming proper in the mid 00's, you probably came across Crossfire in some form. With all sorts of foreign games making it over from places like Japan and Korea at the time, it stood out amongst the proverbial tidal wave of the F2P boom. Crossfire was Korea's answer to Counter-Strike, so much so that it was once one of the biggest games in the world with around 660 million players. It's not a well-known title in the west these days, but Remedy Entertainment's involvement in the upcoming CrossFire X is set to change that.

But if you'd rather not wait until 2020 to see what CrossFire is all about, you only need to turn to CrossFire West - the official name of the newly merged EU/US versions of the game. CrossFire West has all the hallmarks of a Counter-Strike clone. It's not the best looking tactical shooter on the market by today's standards, but its many years of service means over 30 modes are available to play. It's Black List versus Global Risk for the most part, but things like Horror Hide and Mutant Escape modes mix things up a bit from time to time. There's even a class-based zombie mode if you're itching to blast away the undead. Of course, the focus on skins and monetization means this one military-class FPS is now home to its fair share of fashionistas.

Black Squad (Windows)

Sometimes, you just want to get down to the nitty-gritty fundamentals of first-person shooters: the shooting. With Black Squad, NS Studio has created a relentlessly twitchy and precise multiplayer experience that should feel right at home for fans of earlier Call of Duty titles and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The game offers enough variety for players of all styles and abilities to feel like they're making progress and contributing to their team. Getting a kill results in a gloriously over-the-top sound effect and a hefty splatter of blood on nearby walls, so there will never be any doubt whether your target is down.

Black Squad promises absolutely zero "pay to win" mechanics, with no gameplay-focused microtransactions available. Instead, you can earn everything through in-game currency or spend extra cash to buy certain cosmetic items, such as weapon skins, before other players. With only 4GB of recommended RAM and a minimum spec that calls for the aging GTX 560 GPU, you'll be able to run the game on all but the very oldest machines.

Warface (Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Crytek has been developing first-person shooters for nearly two decades, and the company's experience has shown with polished and flashy games that feel just as good on console as they do on PC. The free-to-play Warface is currently available on PC and will be coming to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year, and its class-based approach forces teams to work together. Engineers, for instance, are capable of repairing their teammates' armor, while Medics can heal and dish out heavy damage with a shotgun from close-range.

Most free-to-play first-person shooters focus exclusively on competitive multiplayer, but Warface also features a cooperative mode that rewards you for completing missions and playing well as a team. This mode has a tutorial for newer players to learn the classes. If you do decide to face off against other players online, you'll be able to do so in traditional kill-based and objective-based modes, and a battle royale mode was added in an update in late 2017. Powered by Crytek's CryEngine, it's one of the most attractive free-to-play games around, yet its recommended PC specifications are modest.

The Cycle (Windows)

If you're looking for something fundamentally different from most other free FPS games out there, The Cycle might be worth checking out. It's an Epic Games Store exclusive developed and published by YAGER of Spec Ops: The Line and Dreadnought fame.

The Cycle is a unique quest-based PvPvE multiplayer shooter. You drop into a match and aim to complete more quests than the other players before the planet, its alien inhabitants, or said other players kill you firs.t You can sabotage the efforts of other players by doing things like hijacking their automated tools while they're away or work together by signaling a team-up or rescuing them from danger just to stab them in the back later on.

The Cycle is still very much in development. It only entered the F2P space proper in September. It's a brave move to shrug off the battle royale formula in favor of something totally different these days, but if you're tired of fighting over chicken dinners and victory royales and a simple K/DA, The Cycle is worth a look. It's going to need all the help it can get.