The Epic Games Store Holiday Sale is a 15-day program that was going strong until the site's servers were reportedly overloaded by the Christmas Day free offering, Death Stranding. Hideo Kojima's three-year-old masterpiece was clearly a massive pull for many gamers looking to grab the game for free. The digital storefront saw a massive rise in traffic because of the deal, and this seems to be causing different kinds of problems.The Epic Games Store's official Twitter account has come out acknowledging an issue preventing people from logging in to their accounts and has promised to fix the problem as quickly as possible.Epic Games Store 🎁@EpicGamesWe're currently investigating an issue that may cause players to be unable to login to Epic Games services.2543175We're currently investigating an issue that may cause players to be unable to login to Epic Games services.The Holiday Sale started on December 15 and features massive discounts on major titles. Moreover, Epic Games is giving away one game for free every day during the event. However, when the Fortnite developers offered Death Stranding, the servers started experiencing issues within hours of the announcement. As things stand currently, while the Epic Games Store can still be accessed, some of its most significant services are not working.Epic Games Store 🎁@EpicGamesHoliday checklist: Save humanity from impending annihilation Good thing Death Stranding is FREE today epic.gm/15-days-of-free109272131Holiday checklist: Save humanity from impending annihilation ✅Good thing Death Stranding is FREE today 👀 epic.gm/15-days-of-free https://t.co/LpuYTbWr7fIncreased traffic due to Christmas Day free game causing problems for Epic Games serversThough there have been no official reasons given for the issues players have been experiencing trying to access the digital storefront recently, it seems like the latest free offering played a big part in the server's current problems.The issues range from players being unable to log in to the Epic Games Store to many failing to add Death Stranding to their library due to an internal error. At the time of writing this piece, trying to claim the game results in a specific problem. The error message cites high traffic as the reason gamers aren't able to complete the transaction. It reads:"We are experiencing high transaction volume, please try again later."Screenshot of the error screen (Image via Sportskeeda)Players have flooded social media to bring attention to the issue, and many concluded that Death Stranding was to blame for it:Samantha J. Foster Composer@sjfostersound@EpicGames Death Stranding crashing the servers?39@EpicGames Death Stranding crashing the servers?Others cited instances of how they were unable to claim the game, with a few reporting that they were unable to complete the transaction due to login errors. Users even said that trying to get the title was logging them out of their accounts:ErikValhalla@ErikValhalla@EpicGames I was unable to claim Death Stranding because every time I would hit add to cart it would log me out4@EpicGames I was unable to claim Death Stranding because every time I would hit add to cart it would log me outOne gamer said that while they claimed the game, it has not been added to their library.JuansCarlitos™🎄@JuansCarlitos@EpicGames Hope it gets fixed soon 🤞Since i did managed to claim Death Stranding and get it to my game library but when i checked back at the game page it said i didn't had it saved before it was disabled to purchase, so i don't really know if i fully have it claimed now 5@EpicGames Hope it gets fixed soon 🤞Since i did managed to claim Death Stranding and get it to my game library but when i checked back at the game page it said i didn't had it saved before it was disabled to purchase, so i don't really know if i fully have it claimed now 😅 https://t.co/UqB82ZoqOaA group of people has been raising complaints regarding the edition that is being handed out. They stated that some individuals were able to get Death Stranding Director's Cut, while for others, it was downgraded to the Standard Edition after a while.Greyfire@1FrankShepard@EpicGames So, thanks but hearing that some got the DC and some got normal. DC was free when I couldn't log in. In the wake of this just give everyone the DC. Some people are saying they got both versions for free. Not fair some will get the lesser version. We should all get the DC.1311@EpicGames So, thanks but hearing that some got the DC and some got normal. DC was free when I couldn't log in. In the wake of this just give everyone the DC. Some people are saying they got both versions for free. Not fair some will get the lesser version. We should all get the DC.Brian Salas@BrianSa69369956@EpicGames I claimed my death stranding. Launcher crashed. Got my email confirming purchase. Tried to open it, Launcher crashed again. Now I have two copies of death stranding director's cut in my library but it keeps telling me to login under each game in my library.7@EpicGames I claimed my death stranding. Launcher crashed. Got my email confirming purchase. Tried to open it, Launcher crashed again. Now I have two copies of death stranding director's cut in my library but it keeps telling me to login under each game in my library.appletimemac@appletimemac@EpicGames Nice.26@EpicGames Nice. https://t.co/4dDqBv0PIdEvil Lewis@EvilLewis@EpicGames Also @EpicGames Death Stranding Directors cut was originally listed as today's free game, but now its showing as paid and the base version is showing as free. Not that I've been able to claim either of them anyway.3755@EpicGames Also @EpicGames Death Stranding Directors cut was originally listed as today's free game, but now its showing as paid and the base version is showing as free. Not that I've been able to claim either of them anyway.Shu@ShuGokiis@EvilLewis @EpicGames It was meant to be the base version not the directors cut. It is now resolved and you can claim the correct version. Try refreshing the launcher before you do to make sure everything updates fine.621@EvilLewis @EpicGames It was meant to be the base version not the directors cut. It is now resolved and you can claim the correct version. Try refreshing the launcher before you do to make sure everything updates fine.With the Death Stranding 2 announcement trailer released during the Game Awards 2022, the excitement around the franchise is pretty high. While players do appreciate Epic Games for giving away the first title free of cost, issues with the launcher and digital store appear to persist, even though a couple of hours have passed since Death Stranding was released.Let's hope Epic Games fixes the issue soon, allowing players who do not own Death Stranding on PC to play the game for free.