Xbox Free Play Days This Weekend: Six Games Free, Three Need No Game Pass

Xbox Free Play Days This Weekend: Six Games Free, Three Need No Game Pass

Six Games Open for Free This Weekend

Microsoft's Xbox kicked off a new Free Play Days promotion on October 22, with six games available to try for free this weekend. Three of them — Dying Light 2: Stay Human – Reloaded Edition, Let's Build a Zoo, and Tropico 6 — require an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, or Essential subscription, running from Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, October 25. The other three — Riders Republic in full, plus three-hour timed trials of Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin — are open to all Xbox players with no membership needed. Riders Republic gets an extra day, staying free through Monday, October 26.

Game Pass Trio: Post-Apocalypse, Zoo, and Dictator Island

The Game Pass lineup spans three very different genres. Dying Light 2: Stay Human – Reloaded Edition is set fifteen years after a virus won and civilization collapsed back into the Dark Ages; players explore one of the last standing cities and shape its fate through their choices. Let's Build a Zoo is a management sim where you breed animals, keep visitors happy, and splice DNA to create over 300,000 animal variants, from the Giraffephant to the PandOwl. Tropico 6 arrives ahead of Tropico 7's January 28, 2027 launch, letting players rule archipelagos connected by bridges, tunnels, and cable cars as El Presidente.

Free for Everyone: Extreme Sports and Monster Hunter

All Xbox players, subscription or not, can jump into Riders Republic's full open-world extreme sports multiplayer across America's National Parks — biking, skiing, wingsuiting, and more. The two Monster Hunter Stories titles are available as three-hour timed trials for everyone, giving players a taste of the turn-based RPG spin-offs from the main Monster Hunter series.

Riders Republic Turns Five

The free weekend doubles as Riders Republic's fifth-anniversary celebration. Ubisoft is handing out exclusive Ubisoft-themed rewards and hosting a special concert featuring DJ Henri PFR, running twice daily for two weeks starting October 22. Discounts run across platforms: up to 90% off through October 26 on the Ubisoft Store, and up to 80% off through November 4 on PlayStation and Xbox. All progress made during the free weekend carries over if you buy the game.

Discounts After You Try

Several games are on sale alongside the free trial: Dying Light 2 at 80% off, Monster Hunter Stories at 67% off (from $29.99 to $9.89), Monster Hunter Stories 2 at 75% off, Tropico 6 at 75% off (from $39.99 to $9.99) with DLC up to 60% off until November 2, and Let's Build a Zoo at up to 65% off ($19.99 to $6.99) including DLC. Xbox notes that discounts, percentages, and availability can vary by title and region.

Broader Access: Even the Cheapest Tier Included

This promotion reaches a broader audience than usual. Including the Essential tier — the cheapest Game Pass level — means budget-conscious players can still access the three subscription-locked titles. Meanwhile, the three no-subscription offerings, including a full game in Riders Republic, lower the barrier for newcomers to the Xbox ecosystem. For anyone who has been curious about Game Pass but hesitant to commit, this weekend is a low-cost way to sample it.

Trials End Oct 26, Discounts Run Into November

Once the weekend ends, the three Game Pass titles go offline for non-subscribers, and the Riders Republic and Monster Hunter Stories trials wrap up on October 26. Discounts linger longer: Tropico 6 DLC deals run through November 2, and Riders Republic's Xbox and PlayStation discounts through November 4. Tropico 7 launches January 28, 2027, and Riders Republic arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on December 9.