Wow, had to check this one was real, and jokes on me it's still up on his Twitter, complete with him stubbornly defending himself against everyone telling him he's nuts. How did the Dilbert guy lose his mind so completely?
Epic is great for free games. Check back around mid December they give away games every day with AAA games on Christmas and New Year. Stuff like GTA5 and CIV6.
AFAIK, you can play the base game for free, no subscription needed. That said, there is a subscription that buys you a better user experience, and once you run out of content you'll have to purchase the expansions.