The idea of trying-before-you-buy when it comes to video games is no longer an unrealistic dream.

New service GameSessions aims to fill that gap in the video gaming industry. Their website has just gone live, offering gamers Codemasters’ DiRT Showdown as a try-before-you-buy. 

The service will work by allowing you to download the game for free, with publishers setting a time limit on how long the game can be accessed. Once this time limit is exceeded, you’ll be given the option to buy the game or leave it.

GameSessions is being brought to you by Tangentix, who’re not exactly a household name. Their previous work includes numerous murky DRM technologies. CEO of Tangentix Ed French had this to say about GameSessions:

“We believe that every good PC game will reach its widest possible audience through GameSessions and that one day every game will allow free play before purchase.”

When asked about being the first company to partner with GameSessions, Senior Brand Manager of Codemasters Edd Newby-Robson said:

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with GameSessions to give gamers the chance to play the full version of DiRT Showdown for free before purchase. GameSessions offers a fantastic way to reach new gamers in a new way – our games are our best advert, so for players to get the full DiRT Showdown experience before buying is a unique and exciting prospect for us.”

Tanentix’s previous work in DRM technology has allowed them to let gamers download games in one third of normal time. Their GameSession technology uses less than a third of the normal bandwidth allocation, letting you access their games quicker.

The future of GameSessions is looking bright. Tanentix is aiming for a partnership with Steam. Their ambition seems limitless, as they want their system to be linked with every game in Steam’s library. Their hopes are that the service will eventually become a part of Steam, allowing them to patch their client through the Steam client.

Time will tell if GameSessions can really come that far, but judging from their open beta, things are looking promising.