“No way,” Sam replied, staring at his Steam wishlist. “I’ve seen those ‘Propnight Free Download’ links. Half of them are malware, and the other half won’t let me play on official servers with you guys. I want the real deal.”

The moral of the story? A "Free Download" is only solid if it comes from an official source—otherwise, you're just the first victim in a real-life horror story.

Sam didn’t just download the game; he redeemed it officially through the Steam store. Because it was a , he had access to the Steam Workshop, official matchmaking, and—most importantly—his progress saved to the cloud.