Steam Makes Game Not Even Out Yet Free to Download

Another game has been made free to download on Steam, no strings attached. It seems like every week a developer/publisher is giving away their game for free or making their premium game free-to-play. In this case, we have an example of the latter; a game that previously cost money to buy is now completely free, and it there doesn't appear to be any changes made to it. In other words, it's the same game, but now it is free. As for the game, it's CHKN from Katapult. 

"Hey again, everyone. It's official: CHKN is now free," reads an accompanying announecment. "If you've ever wanted to create your own lovely abominations and survive wild creature attacks with your friends, now's your chance. Please enjoy!"

To thank everyone who has already purchased the game developer Katapult is giving away the Art of CHKN digital book. The freebie, which is only being given to those who purchased the game before this change, should appear right in your Stean library if you meet the requirements. That said, to access the book you will need to access the CHKN page in your library and then scroll down to the DLC box on the right side. Once you download the freebie, you will find a PDF in the same folder on whatever hard drive the game is stored. 

As for the game itself, it's been kicking around since April 1, 2016, in early access. During this now seven-year stint in Steam Early Access, it's accumulated a "Mostly Positive" Steam User Review rating, with 78 percent of 1,212 user reviews rating the game positively. In the last 30 days specifically, 50 users have reviewed the game, with the same percentage of users rating the game positively. 

"CHKN is an open-world sandbox game where life itself is your strongest tool," reads an official blurb about the game. "Create fantastic creatures in an open-world sandbox game like no other. Explore, craft, and survive-all with the help of your very own creations."

It's unclear when CHKN will release proper, but the game is still being supported. When it does release, it will presumably remain free. As for why it's been made free, we don't know, but it was presumably because interest in the game was not at a sustainble level.