Company of Heroes 3, Cities: Skylines II, and Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core Are Free to Play on Steam Until November 16
Four full PC games have opened their doors at no cost on Steam this weekend: Company of Heroes 3, Cities: Skylines II, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, and IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad are playable in full until Monday, November 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 19:00 CET). One essential clarification before queuing up your downloads on Valve's storefront: this is a temporary Free Weekend promotion rather than a permanent giveaway to keep forever. However, all of your save data and unlocked achievements carry over automatically via Steam Cloud if you decide to pick up any of the four titles at discounts ranging from 30% to 85% off.
Company of Heroes 3 Celebrates Its 3.0 Update at 67% Off
Headlining the lineup is Company of Heroes 3. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its acclaimed real-time strategy franchise, Relic Entertainment has unlocked the full game just days after releasing its landmark Version 3.0 Update on November 5.
Update 3.0 overhauls environmental lighting and battlefield visuals across the Mediterranean and North African theaters, introduces upgraded weather effects, reworks combat audio from the ground up, and sharpens AI tactical behavior alongside improvements to the Final Stand wave-defense mode. The trial also builds momentum ahead of the Operation Torch narrative single-player DLC (featuring 15 missions focused on American forces in North Africa), scheduled for November 25, 2026. This promotion joins the November 13 to 19 PC free games lineup, while the base game hits a historical low of $19.79 instead of $59.99 (67% off).
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core and Cities: Skylines II Open Up
Co-op shooter fans can drop into Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, developed by Ghost Ship Games and published alongside Coffee Stain Publishing. Launched in Early Access in May 2026, this spin-off trades the standard extraction formula for a tightly paced 4-player roguelite structure. Stepping into the boots of dwarven Reclaimers, squads enter sealed-off deep mining facilities on Hoxxes IV with minimal starter gear and harvest raw Expenite on-site to unlock temporary weapons, upgrades, and class synergies between stages. Throughout the trial window, the game is available at 50% off on Steam ($14.99 instead of $29.99).
For a complete change of pace, Cities: Skylines II from Colossal Order, Iceflake Studios, and Paradox Interactive is also free to test until Monday morning. After its turbulent technical launch in 2023 and three years of performance patches, this trial lets prospective mayors benchmark traffic simulation, municipal budgets, and large-scale urban growth on their own hardware before committing. The base game is discounted to $34.99 instead of $49.99 (30% off).
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad Rounds Out the Quartet at 85% Off
Finally, combat flight simulation enthusiasts can take to the skies in IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad by 1C Game Studios. Known for its demanding aerodynamics, detailed airframe damage modeling, and expansive Eastern Front campaign spanning 1942 and 1943, the sim drops to $7.49 instead of $49.99 (85% off) for players who want to stay airborne after Monday's cutoff. Make sure your setup is running the latest major Steam client update before clicking the green Play Game button on each official store page.
My Perspective
Having four heavyweights unlocked at the same time is great on paper, but let's be honest: nobody has enough hours in a single weekend to master a sprawling city-builder, a hardcore flight sim, a WWII RTS, and a co-op shooter before Monday's 10:00 AM PT deadline. If you have two or three friends online tonight on Discord, go straight for Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core: starting every run stripped down and scrambling for Expenite upgrades makes for immediate, high-stakes chaos in the dark tunnels of Hoxxes IV. On the other hand, if you are flying solo this weekend, give Company of Heroes 3 a fresh look: Grimtag spent all morning raving to me about how much Relic Entertainment's 3.0 update transforms the audio punch and battlefield atmosphere, and a free trial is the smartest way to test that turnaround on your own rig.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
