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Premium News: Free Trials and New Gift Subscriptions!

There's never been a better time to hop on the Premium train, or help someone else get on board!

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Hey there! We have two exciting developments to share on the Giant Bomb Premium front which I am going to share with you right now!

Free Trials!

We are now offering free trials to Giant Bomb Premium, which features plenty of exclusive videos and the ability to browse the site without ads (you may need to log out and back in to remove ads, though)! If you’ve ever wanted to taste the excitement that Premium offers, the time is now. A free trial will give you seven days of access to all of our Premium video features and podcasts without having to spend a dime! Here’s a little FAQ on how they work:

  • How long is a free trial? A free trial lasts seven days. At the end of the seven days, your card will be charged and you will be made a full Premium subscriber for either a month or a year (you can choose the duration at the beginning of the trial). You can cancel at any point during the trial.
  • What do I need to sign up for a free trial? You’ll need either a working debit or credit card or a Paypal account to sign up for a free trial. (Pre-paid cards and gift cards will not work in our payment processor as they usually don’t allow for recurring payments.)
  • Are there any restrictions on free trials? Free trial accounts cannot download videos, only watch them in our site player. The ability to download videos will be unlocked if you become a paying member. (Some third-party apps and streaming boxes rely on the download functionality to work, so Premium videos may not work on those platforms until you complete your free trial.)
  • Can I watch Premium livestreams during a free trial? You sure can! You will be able to watch Premium streams and participate in chats during the free trial. Just keep in mind that our chats (and the forums) are moderated; you may want to check out the community rules before popping in. (To sum it up: don’t be a jerk.)
  • Will I be warned before I’m charged? There is an email warning about the charge three days before the end of the trial. Again, you can cancel the trial at any time.
  • What if I sign up during a sale? If you sign up for a free trial during a sale, you will get the sale price when your trial is up and you move on to a paid membership, even if the sale is over at that point.
  • The page says I can't get a free trial! Free trials are only available for new subscribers; if you have previously been a Premium subscriber you will not be able to sign up for a trial. Free trials also have a one-per-person limit; attempts to use multiple accounts to sign up for free trials will lead to those accounts being banned.
  • I signed up! Now where do I start with all this Great Content? There are forum threads where people recommend their favorite Premium content here and here if you want to peruse them! Or ask in the comments below!
  • I'm having other problems! Please email me at support at giantbomb.com if you have any issues with your free trial. I'll try to respond to questions in the comments as well, but email is best!

Gift Subscriptions!

We have offered gift subscriptions for a while now, but the setup through our payment processor was a bit weird and required the recipient to put in their own credit card to redeem the code. We’ve upgraded that system now, though, and as of today, there are three major changes to how Premium Gift Subscriptions work:

  • Gift Subscription purchasers no longer need to be logged into the website (i.e. you can send the link to a loved one as a gift request and they won’t need to make an account to buy one!).

  • People redeeming a gift code will no longer be asked to input credit card information if they don’t have a billing history with us.

  • Gift subscriptions can now be bought in both monthly and yearly increments.

If you have a friend that you think would like to try out Premium but have never wanted to jump through the hoops of the old Gift Subscription system, the whole thing should be a lot easier now!

Note that if you have an outstanding gift code that was previously purchased, but not redeemed, it should still work in the same field. If you have any problems, though, just email me at support at giantbomb.com and I’ll get you sorted manually.

51 Comments

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stordoff

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Will I be warned before I’m charged? There is an email warning about the charge three days before the end of the trial. Again, you can cancel the trial at any time.

Nice job. That one thing I hate about a lot of free trials - how easy it is to forget until you get the first charge.

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mintyice

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but what about UPF

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hassun

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Get on that premium train. It's cheaper than most Patreons!

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Peetzacat

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Edited By Peetzacat

Finally a way to give the gods gift of upf to my friends

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Dixavd

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This is Fantastic news. I became a premium Subscriber after winning a month trial from one of Rorie's Box Office Blogs (total fluke, too: I know very little of movies) and enjoyed it so much I've been a paid member ever since. People should definitely try this out!

Way to go, Rorie (also thanks for my Premium prize a few years ago) <3

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danlongman

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Being a premium member is the best media purchase I make every year. If this gets it to more people that's awesome. Good news!

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BioStormX

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Can I just saw how awesome you guys are about warning people before their subscription autorenews. Not just for free trials but in normal use too. As someone who often rides the line of being completely broke, it's saved me from overdrafting in the past.

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ripelivejam

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@mintyice: sounds like it's free during the trial like the rest.

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Kill3rPastry

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@mintyice UPF is a premium stream, you shouldnt have problems watching it

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The_Nubster

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All great news! I love giving money to people so any changes to make that easier is welcome.

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deactivated-6342b5d558672

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Premium member since premium started. Pretty sure I won't renew in 04/18 though.. Content got somewhat weird over the last months (the bad kind of weird, sad to write this).

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NoneSun

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@chibacityblues: Interesting, I've thought they've been doing well with the premium content over the last months what with all the new shows they've been doing, and it sounds like there's more to come.

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WillyOD

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Welcome. You can stay forever...

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Onemanarmyy

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Wooooh sounds like a good thing all around. Props for not being douchebags about sneakily turning it into a full-blown subscription without notice, that's always the worst pitfall of deals of this nature.

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dafdiego777

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You can cancel anytime you like, but you can never leave!

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NickFoley

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Edited By NickFoley

Rorie's Monday is my Tuesday. Lucky schedule indeed.

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apaw90

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@chibacityblues: April is far away, and a lot could happen to change your mind!! Stay positive brotha

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forteexe21

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Remember, for every person who buys premium, brings back Jeff's smile.

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smikwily

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I've been a subscriber since 2014. Showing I'm on a trial now with a billing date of my annual renewal date in November.

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Zelnox

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One of the perks for confirming a premium subscription is the surprise cheer from the crew. ;_; Ryan.

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GramCracker

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Gotta love the premium GB content. Never look back.

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larmer

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Edited By larmer

Worth it. I watch so much GB that I'm badly lagging behind on my favourite TV shows. I only have so much time and GB has so much great premium #content!

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Dixavd

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Edited By Dixavd
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bill_mcneal

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@peetzacat: And punish my enemies with UPF streams.

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tgjessie

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Edited By tgjessie

Question: Do free-trialers have the same user icon medal as us paying subscribers (or lack thereof)? (I.E. The gold and silver medals on people's display pictures.)

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WrathOfGod

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Thanks fams.

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DefAde

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Yo, family accounts would be super usefull for me

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miser

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I welcome the new influx of users and changes.

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matoya

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Edited By matoya

What's to stop someone signing up, taking the free week, then making a new account, signing up for another week, and doing that ad nauseum.

Is it IP locked or something? I can see people exploiting this

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rorie

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Edited By rorie

Rorie's Monday is my Tuesday. Lucky schedule indeed.

I was out sick yesterday! Sorry!

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rorie

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@matoya said:

What's to stop someone signing up, taking the free week, then making a new account, signing up for another week, and doing that ad nauseum.

Is it IP locked or something? I can see people exploiting this

I'm not going to go into the specific protections we have for this, but I will say that we will be looking out for it.

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TheManWithNoPlan

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alwaysbebombing

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Neat!

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PhilipDuck

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Edited By PhilipDuck

great updates to premium for new subscribers, I've been premium since GB began premium but recently the only good content comes from the East team, since Ben started on the West it's sad to say i can't watch those videos anymore.. East continue to add great content and Abby actually fitted in really well but yeah unfortunately I now miss out on Jeff, Brad and Jason because Ben just kills content for me..

edit: Ok I've had after thinking about it might just be to me the Wests content has been lacking whereas East seem to be putting out really good content each week. Just bums me out because i enjoy watching those guys from the West and Jeff, Brad were the ones who i followed from GameSpot so to no longer watch content with those guys in that i enjoy is just disappointing. Sorry Ben I'm sure you're a great guy your humour just doesn't click with me.

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jstaunton

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great updates to premium for new subscribers, I've been premium since GB began premium but recently the only good content comes from the East team, since Ben started on the West it's sad to say i can't watch those videos anymore.. East continue to add great content and Abby actually fitted in really well but yeah unfortunately I now miss out on Jeff, Brad and Jason because Ben just kills content for me..

Just for balance's sake, I really like Ben!

The new subscription options don't matter to me as I'll be yearly for the foreseeable regardless, but it's good to have options!

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OceanRipple

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Edited By OceanRipple

How does the cancellation work, for example if I cancel the renewal 4 days into the 7 day trial (so that I do not forget and get charged at the end of the 7 days) will my free period end there and then or do I get to use the full 7 days no matter when I opt out?

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RaffaChicken

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Where can I get a lifetime subscription?

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monkeyking1969

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This is very nice, it should provide the "what's it like" experience for users who might be on the fence. I know there was a bit of confusion in the past, so hopefully this will alleviate any confusion about the site feel and features under "Premium" membership status.

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Robaota

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Edited By Robaota

@philipduck said:

great updates to premium for new subscribers, I've been premium since GB began premium but recently the only good content comes from the East team, since Ben started on the West it's sad to say i can't watch those videos anymore.. East continue to add great content and Abby actually fitted in really well but yeah unfortunately I now miss out on Jeff, Brad and Jason because Ben just kills content for me..

Conversely, I've enjoy the West's content a lot more since Ben joined.

But I'm also the sort of crazy person that doesn't see GBE/GBW as two different websites.

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dstopia

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Edited By dstopia

I endorse this product.

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cyborgx7

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Love my premium subscription. Not a fan of the "free trial but it rolls over into paid subscription if you don't cancel it" business model. Obviously you see this differently, but I felt the need to say it in a quick comment.

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Do_The_Manta_Ray

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Edited By Do_The_Manta_Ray

Well, this is a very neat thing that I think will benefit this site quite a bunch.

Now prepare for a thousand and one threads asking what premium videos to watch first.

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wcarle

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@smikwily said:

I've been a subscriber since 2014. Showing I'm on a trial now with a billing date of my annual renewal date in November.

This is just a display bug that we'll have fixed soon, no need to change anything on your end that message will go away soon, sorry about that!

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wcarle

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How does the cancellation work, for example if I cancel the renewal 4 days into the 7 day trial (so that I do not forget and get charged at the end of the 7 days) will my free period end there and then or do I get to use the full 7 days no matter when I opt out?

If you cancel on day 4 your trial will continue until day 7, at that point it will end and you won't be charged.

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jstaunton

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Edited By jstaunton

@cyborgx7 said:

Love my premium subscription. Not a fan of the "free trial but it rolls over into paid subscription if you don't cancel it" business model. Obviously you see this differently, but I felt the need to say it in a quick comment.

They've put in place a warning notification to help those people out who may forget about it. How can this be a bad thing?

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SonicBoyster

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Perhaps this is hoping for too much but can we have some idea what's planned for future premium videos? I've supported the team for years but I'm a little burned out on Let's Plays of old games and Battlegrounds content. We have any endurance runs or more creative video content coming up here?

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Crackinwise

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Edited By Crackinwise

@sonicboyster: They've never done so, why would you ask for it now? If you don't like what you're getting, then unsubscribe.

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SonicBoyster

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@crackinwise: Maybe they've never done it because it's never been asked for. Or maybe I'd rather re-up for a full year instead of going month to month but I'm not in love with the content right now and I'm curious if it's going to stay this way for the foreseeable future. Either way I don't understand why you're calling me out for asking someone else a question.