Nokia has been known to run various gaming promotions since it came to Windows Phone a couple of years ago. Most obviously they sponsored the production of more than 20 Xbox Windows Phone games; titles that we probably would never have gotten otherwise. There was also a brief period last year in which a non-Xbox version of Sonic CD became available for Lumia owners. We never found out why the giveaway game lacked its Xbox features, nor would Nokia comment on it.
Fourteen months later, it looks like Nokia has a new promotion going on. Owners of some very specific handsets (Nokia Lumia 625, 1020, 1320, Icon, and 1520) can get free versions of nine games from mega-publisher Gameloft! These aren’t stripped down versions, either. They’re the full Xbox titles with working Achievements, albeit with different Store pages than the general versions. Head past the link for more details on how to find the free games!
Eligible phones
The free Gameloft games are only available to download from specific Lumia devices. If you own a Lumia but it’s not on this list, you won’t be able to grab the games without paying.
- Nokia Lumia 625
- Nokia Lumia 1020
- Nokia Lumia 1320
- Nokia Lumia Icon
- Nokia Lumia 1520
Giveaway Games
Nokia is giving away free versions of the following titles. To find the free versions, just search for them (or Gameloft) from your phone’s Store. You have to scroll down PAST the paid versions a little in order to see the free versions. They don’t appear in the Nokia Collection, in case you were wondering.
- Asphalt 7: Heat – Launched at 99 cents, but now regularly sells for $4.99.
- Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles – Launched at $6.99, but now regularly sells for $4.99.
- Brain Challenge – Regularly an insane $4.99. Free might still be too expensive for this one.
- Earthworm Jim – Launched at $4.99 but dropped to 99 cents.
- Let’s Golf 2 – Regularly $4.99.
- Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour – Regularly $6.99. Modern Combat 4, N.O.V.A. 3, and Order & Chaos don't run on the Lumia 625 since it only has 512 MB of RAM.
- N.O.V.A. 3 – Regularly $6.99.
- Order & Chaos Online – Regularly $6.99. Amusingly/annoyingly, this particular game doesn’t run properly on the Lumia 1520, one of the phones it’s being given away on. The inventory graphics glitch severely, making the game all but unplayable.
- Shark Dash – Regularly 99 cents.
We don’t know how long Nokia will be giving these games away. Nokia hasn’t blogged about it on their Nokia Conversations website or elsewhere. So if the free versions are available on your phone, get them while the getting is good! Note that some users (including me) are experiencing trouble accessing the Store from their phones at all. Microsoft is already at work trying to fix it. Hopefully the Store gets straightened out well before the promotion ends.
Thanks to Mark “Tipsy” Tepper for the tip!
