Steamworks Documentation
Free Weekends
A Free Weekend is a time-limited promotion that allows players to temporarily access and play an eligible game for free—typically over a long four-day weekend.
Unlike a Demo, which offers a separate demo build of your game via a separate demo app ID, Free Weekends grant players full access to your base game via its current app ID, albeit for a limited time. Free Weekends also differ from Free to Play games, which are always available at no cost.
Free Weekends might not make sense for your game. Read on for more details.
By default, Free Weekends are not promoted anywhere on the Store, aside from your game’s own store page. For this reason, Free Weekends are typically combined with other kinds of curated discounts, which are promoted to customers on Steam, for example a Daily Deal, Midweek Deal or Weekend Deal. While there aren't exact rules, as a base guideline we tend to focus on the most-played or best-selling games on Steam for these kinds of promotions. Please see Curated Discounts for details.
Not all games will be a good fit for a Free Weekend. Keep in mind that players have a wide range of free-to-play games and free demos available on Steam every day, so temporarily offering a paid game for free doesn't guarantee interest from customers. In general, Free Weekends tend to perform best for games with lots of replayable content or games with strong multiplayer elements that benefit from an influx of new players (such as improved matchmaking or enhanced social gameplay).
To find out if your game is eligible for a Free Weekend, please contact us with the details and your desired timing at least one month in advance.
This free package uses the same App ID and Depots as your base game, and includes a callout to show players how much time remains in the event.
Once the Free Weekend ends, the free package is automatically removed from your store page. Players who participated will still see your game listed in their Steam libraries, but they’ll only be able to uninstall it - continued play requires purchasing the full version.
Free Weekends typically run from Thursday at 10 AM Pacific to Monday at 10 AM Pacific. However, any discount on the paid version of your game can extend beyond the Free Weekend itself. If you're planning to pair your Free Weekend with a Daily Deal, we recommend choosing a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday start date to align with the Free Weekend schedule.
We suggest running your Free Weekend for at least four days to ensure players have enough time to download and meaningfully engage with your game. Keep in mind Steam's global audience will be downloading your game through a wide variety of internet speeds and data plans, which can represent a significant investment for some players, especially for games with larger file sizes.
Please also note that Steam may spread out Free Weekend events on the calendar to avoid overlapping promotions.
If approved, here are few set up steps and best practices:
https://partner.steampowered.com/freeweekend/ <--Your App ID Here
Keep in mind that not all benefits of a Free Weekend will be immediately measurable --for example the community benefit to a potential increase in the player base, or all the people who buy the game simply because it's on sale or being played by friends at the moment, regardless of the Free Weekend offer. In general, Free Weekends can give more players the opportunity to experience your game firsthand, even if they never intend to buy it. Longer term, this can lead to increased familiarity, awareness and discussion of your game—even after the event ends.
Unlike a Demo, which offers a separate demo build of your game via a separate demo app ID, Free Weekends grant players full access to your base game via its current app ID, albeit for a limited time. Free Weekends also differ from Free to Play games, which are always available at no cost.
Free Weekends might not make sense for your game. Read on for more details.
Overview
Setting up a Free Weekend requires Valve approval.By default, Free Weekends are not promoted anywhere on the Store, aside from your game’s own store page. For this reason, Free Weekends are typically combined with other kinds of curated discounts, which are promoted to customers on Steam, for example a Daily Deal, Midweek Deal or Weekend Deal. While there aren't exact rules, as a base guideline we tend to focus on the most-played or best-selling games on Steam for these kinds of promotions. Please see Curated Discounts for details.
Not all games will be a good fit for a Free Weekend. Keep in mind that players have a wide range of free-to-play games and free demos available on Steam every day, so temporarily offering a paid game for free doesn't guarantee interest from customers. In general, Free Weekends tend to perform best for games with lots of replayable content or games with strong multiplayer elements that benefit from an influx of new players (such as improved matchmaking or enhanced social gameplay).
To find out if your game is eligible for a Free Weekend, please contact us with the details and your desired timing at least one month in advance.
How It Works
During a Free Weekend, a free package temporarily appears on your base game's store page, alongside its standard 'paid' package.This free package uses the same App ID and Depots as your base game, and includes a callout to show players how much time remains in the event.
Once the Free Weekend ends, the free package is automatically removed from your store page. Players who participated will still see your game listed in their Steam libraries, but they’ll only be able to uninstall it - continued play requires purchasing the full version.
Timing
Free Weekends typically run from Thursday at 10 AM Pacific to Monday at 10 AM Pacific. However, any discount on the paid version of your game can extend beyond the Free Weekend itself. If you're planning to pair your Free Weekend with a Daily Deal, we recommend choosing a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday start date to align with the Free Weekend schedule.
We suggest running your Free Weekend for at least four days to ensure players have enough time to download and meaningfully engage with your game. Keep in mind Steam's global audience will be downloading your game through a wide variety of internet speeds and data plans, which can represent a significant investment for some players, especially for games with larger file sizes.
Please also note that Steam may spread out Free Weekend events on the calendar to avoid overlapping promotions.
Setup
To run a Free Weekend, you'll first need approval from the Steam Team as described in the Overview above.If approved, here are few set up steps and best practices:
Steam Team Setup:
- The Steam Team will create a special Free Weekend package that grants players access to your game during the event. From your app's main landing page, you can find this package by navigating to: All Associated Packages > Free Weekend Packages.
- Steam will automatically handle activation and deactivation of this Free Weekend package, ensuring it goes live at the start of the Free Weekend and is deactivated and removed from your game's Store Page when the event ends.
Your Setup:
- After the Free Weekend package is staged, you'll need to republish your store page at any time before the event begins. This won’t make the Free Weekend visible to customers ahead of time, but it will enable the package to display on your Store Page when the event starts.
- Use the Discount Management Tool to schedule any discounts you'd like to offer alongside your Free Weekend. Note: a discount is required if your Free Weekend is running alongside a Daily Deal, Midweek Deal, or Weekend Deal.
Best Practices:
To make the most of your Free Weekend, we recommend the following:- Pair your Free Weekend with a compelling discount on your paid package to encourage conversions.
- Extend your discount a few days beyond the end of the Free Weekend to give players extra time to upgrade after trying the game.
- Ensure your game servers are ready for a temporary influx of new players.
- If you're messaging your Free Weekend off of Steam, consider pointing those communications at your base game's Store Page and using UTM analytics to measure the impact.
- To help message your Free Weekend on Steam, consider:
- Creating a News Event to let your current players know about the Free Weekend and that they can invite their Friend's to play for free while it's active.
- Setting up a temporary Artwork Override about your Free Weekend. Be sure to align the override’s start and end times with the Free Weekend dates.
- Creating a News Event to let your current players know about the Free Weekend and that they can invite their Friend's to play for free while it's active.
Performance
After the event, you can review participation, conversion rates, and other key metrics in the Free Weekend section of your Steamworks Dashboard by appending your app ID to the following URL:https://partner.steampowered.com/freeweekend/ <--Your App ID Here
Keep in mind that not all benefits of a Free Weekend will be immediately measurable --for example the community benefit to a potential increase in the player base, or all the people who buy the game simply because it's on sale or being played by friends at the moment, regardless of the Free Weekend offer. In general, Free Weekends can give more players the opportunity to experience your game firsthand, even if they never intend to buy it. Longer term, this can lead to increased familiarity, awareness and discussion of your game—even after the event ends.
