The best superhero game in recent memory is free on Steam this weekend

Marvel's Midnight Suns was our runner-up for 2022 Game of the Year, but despite all the praise that's been dealt to Firaxis' superhero RPG, it was out-earned on Steam by another Firaxis game last year, the six-year-old Civilization 6. Midnight Suns did at least crack Steam's 2022 top sellers list for new releases, but not by much. Maybe it's one of those games that starts slow and picks up momentum as word spreads: Not everyone seems to be aware that it's not just a good tactical combat game, but also a good tactical befriending superheroes game—Marvel Mass Effect, more or less.

If awareness is really its problem, Midnight Suns could see a boost this weekend: It's currently 40% off on Steam, making the Legendary Edition $60 and the standard edition $36, and also free to play until Sunday at 10 am Pacific. Should you buy the game on Steam after the free trial ends, you'll be able to pick up where you left off.

Take-Two has also announced a date for the next Midnight Suns DLC drop. With the base game, you can fight and chill with 12 heroes, including Blade, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Nico Minoru, and new heroes are now being added in $15 DLC packs. Deadpool was introduced in January in "The Good, the Bad, and the Undead," and this month Venom is joining the crew in "Redemption."

Venom already appears early on in Midnight Suns as an antagonist, and Redemption will see the symbiote join the group "to right the wrongs he committed" while under the influence of the game's head baddie, Lilith. Aside from the roster addition, Midnight Suns DLC packs also include a new upgrade for the Abbey (that's your base where you hang out with your super pals, upgrade stuff, and prep for battle) and three new story missions. The Redemption missions will continue the story introduced by the Deadpool DLC, which added vampyres to the list of problems New York City is dealing with.

Redemption comes out on February 23, and will be available standalone or as part of the Season Pass, which includes all DLC and comes with the $100 Legendary Edition (which is $60 on sale right now). At least two more DLC heroes, Storm and Morbius, are coming.

Take-Two is pushing Midnight Suns pretty hard right now. Besides the Steam sale and free weekend, there are also trials available for all Xbox Series X/S owners and for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers. Steam users get the better deal: Those console trials are limited to three and two hours respectively, but you can play the PC version as much as you want until the trial period ends Sunday morning. 

We called Midnight Suns a "brilliant superhero social sim" in our 88% review, so it's worth the download in our view.