Pony Island Is Free on Steam Until October 12 — How to Claim It and Request the Sequel Playtest

The original Pony Island is free to keep on Steam if you claim it before October 12, 2026. Separately, the Pony Island 2: Panda Circus page is accepting playtest requests. These are two different games and two different kinds of access.

Offer checked October 9: the original game’s storefront shows a 100% discount and an Add to Account control. The promotion has an expiry; check Steam’s live banner before trying to redeem it.

How to claim the original Pony Island

Open Pony Island on Steam, app 405640. Sign in, find the free-to-keep offer and select Add to Account. Follow the account prompts and confirm that the game has been added to your library.

The promotional claim grants the original game, rather than a temporary playtest slot. Steam says some limitations apply, so the live offer and your account’s eligibility determine whether redemption is available.

Choose the free game control carefully. The same page also sells a Pony Island + Soundtrack bundle and other packages. Their presence beside the offer does not make those paid extras free.

When does the giveaway end?

The checked Steam banner says October 12 at 10:00 a.m., but its fetched display does not identify the timezone. We therefore cannot turn that into a confirmed Stockholm closing time.

Use the deadline shown in your own Steam storefront and claim before it. The offer ending does not change the sequel’s release date, and the October 12 cutoff should not be mistaken for a Pony Island 2 launch.

How to request the Pony Island 2 playtest

Go to the sequel’s separate page, app 2017940. Under Join the Pony Island 2: Panda Circus Playtest, select Request Access while signed in.

Steam says it will notify applicants when the developer is ready for more participants. A request is therefore not an immediate download or guaranteed admission. The checked page gives no acceptance rate or complete test schedule.

The official October 8 showcase trailer specifically invites players to sign up. That confirms the testing invitation, rather than a free-to-keep offer for the finished sequel.

When is Pony Island 2 coming out?

Both the sequel’s Steam listing and Daniel Mullins Games’ official website display April 27, 2027. The current Steam system requirements are for Windows PC. We have not verified a console release announcement.

That full-game launch is distinct from this week’s playtest. Its listing describes a surreal journey through the underworld involving deities and their games; it comes from the creator of Inscryption. The shared title does not make it a rerelease of the 2016 original.

The practical distinction is simple: claim Pony Island to keep the first game; request the playtest to apply to try the second. The second game’s release is recorded in our release calendar.

Hero image: official sequel screenshot from Daniel Mullins Games’ Steam listing, © Daniel Mullins Games. Original framing preserved.