The headline freebie this weekend: all of ARC Raiders, free on Steam until Monday 12 October at 08:00 UTC. Embark timed it for the game's first anniversary and for Frozen Trail, the biggest update since launch, which landed on 8 October. On Xbox ARC Raiders is open too, to everyone, no Game Pass needed. And if it clicks, it's half price, 19.99 dollars, until 15 October. The second free game on Steam, Core Keeper, runs until Monday evening and keeps your saves.
ARC Raiders: the full game and a new map until Monday morning
Free access opened on Thursday 8 October at 09:00 UTC and ends on Monday 12 October at 08:00 UTC, per Embark's announcement (11:00 and 10:00 CEST), and the Steam page shows the same. It's the whole game, not a demo: co-op runs to the surface to grab loot and extract before ARC machines or other Raiders get you.
- Frozen Trail. Update 2.0 from 8 October: a new icy map, Pendola Pass, new ARC enemies, the colossal ARC Frigate, the Redirection map condition, new weapons and gadgets, Weapon Amplification, a reworked skill tree, a new Reward Pass and customisable Raider Outposts. Hotfix 2.0.2 followed the next day.
- Price after the weekend. 19.99 dollars instead of 39.99 on Steam until 15 October. On Xbox the base game, Deluxe Edition and Deluxe upgrade are 50% off from 8 to 15 October.
- Progress. Embark's announcement doesn't say whether it carries over if you buy. Xbox Wire promises you keep achievements and Gamerscore when buying during the event, but says nothing about in-game progress.
One Xbox caveat: Free Play Days run from Thursday to Sunday 11 October, a day shorter than on Steam, and Microsoft doesn't give an exact end time.
Core Keeper: until Monday evening, and your saves stay
An underground sandbox for one to eight players: dig, build a base, fight bosses, fish and farm. It's the game's first Steam Free Weekend since the 1.0 release. The Steam page shows access until 12 October at 10:00 Pacific, which is 17:00 UTC. The studio says plainly that afterwards the game stays in your library with your save data, so if you buy it you pick up where you left off. It's 40% off, 11.99 instead of 19.99 dollars, until 22 October. On the morning of 9 October hotfix 1.3.0.6 fixed a bug that stopped some Free Weekend players from entering a world.
Xbox: what's open to everyone and what needs Game Pass
| Game | Access | Subscription needed | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC Raiders | full game until 11 October | no | 50% until 15 October |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 | timed trial | no | 30% |
| Little Nightmares III | timed trial | no | 19.99 instead of 39.99 dollars |
| High On Life 2 | timed trial | no | 31.99 instead of 39.99 dollars |
| Rogue Waters | 2-hour trial | no | 75% |
| Screamer | full game during the event | Game Pass Ultimate, Premium or Essential | 60% |
| Family Man | full game during the event | Game Pass Ultimate, Premium or Essential | 85% |
The one we care most about is the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 trial at 30% off. If you pick it up, start with our guide series: today we published the bosses and dangerous mutants guide, with a new one every two days. On the Epic Games Store, Out of Sight and TerraScape are free to keep until 15 October, 15:00 UTC, and what comes next lives on our separate page.
Sources
Embark Studios, ARC Raiders free weekend announcement, 02.10.2026. ARC Raiders on Steam. Embark, Frozen Trail preview. Pugstorm, Core Keeper free weekend announcement, 08.10.2026. Core Keeper on Steam. Xbox Wire, Free Play Days, 08.10.2026. Epic Games Store promotions data. Screenshots from Steam.
