It's always surprising to me when developers give away their product for free when they launch. Seems like creating some buildup before the release by getting the game into reviewers' hands would be a better solution.

When I see a deal like this, I'll go ahead and grab the app even if I have no intention of playing it. If they launched with a discounted price and I saw a number of positive reviews, I would be more likely to buy the game to check it out.