Quick answer: Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core and Cities: Skylines II are free to play on Steam until Monday, November 16 at 12 PM CT (10 AM PT). If you want to keep playing after that, Rogue Core is $14.99 (50% off) and Cities: Skylines II is $34.99 (30% off). The best weekend deals include Skyrim Special Edition for $7.99 and Borderlands 4 for $34.99. Prices are from Steam’s US store, checked on November 13, 2026.
Steam’s free weekend lineup this week has one game that is trying to win back players and one big city builder that is about to get a new expansion. You can download both and play as much as you want until Monday at midday. There is also a good batch of paid deals around them. Here is what is free, what is cheap, and when each deal ends.
Free to play until Monday: Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is Ghost Ship Games’ roguelite co-op shooter set in the Deep Rock Galactic universe. It has been in Early Access since May 20, and Ghost Ship is using its six-month mark to throw what it calls an open house. In its Steam announcement, the studio admitted that “the launch didn’t go so hot” and said it has spent the months since fixing the things players disliked.
Ghost Ship’s six-month recap lists the main changes:
- Every enemy now drops EXP, so fighting pays off, not just mining Expenite.
- You can reroll upgrades at a Refractor Terminal in the elevator, and you no longer have to group up to collect them.
- Five Threat Levels let you pick the difficulty, and an Assault Pace toggle slows down or speeds up the mission timer.
- New gear includes the Trident DES energy shotgun, the Ventura Model 57 pump shotgun, the Corrosive Sludge Pump, the LOK-1 Smart Rifle and the XQ-2 Quantum Warp Field.
- A fourth boss, the Balgorath Gatekeeper, brings bullet hell style ranged attacks.
The November 11 patch also added Save and Quit for solo runs, and Ghost Ship says its team is now moving on to Update 4. If you keep the game after the weekend, the Steam page lists it at $14.99, down from $29.99, with the discount running until November 26.
Also free: Cities: Skylines II
Cities: Skylines II is free to play on the same schedule. The timing makes sense: the Park Adventures expansion, which adds nature reserves, amusement parks and rides, launches on December 2, and the latest patch (1.6.4f1) laid the groundwork for it. The base game is $34.99 (30% off $49.99) until November 19.
The best paid Steam deals this weekend
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition: $7.99 (was $39.99, 80% off) until November 18.
- Borderlands 4: $34.99 (was $69.99, 50% off) until November 16.
- BALL x PIT: $7.49 (was $14.99, 50% off) until November 19.
- Euro Truck Simulator 2: $4.99 (was $19.99, 75% off) until November 24. SCS just released the Iceland DLC on November 10 and the Coaches DLC on November 12.
- Company of Heroes series: Company of Heroes 3 is $19.79 (was $59.99), Company of Heroes 2 is $4.99 and the original is $2.99, as part of a Company of Heroes franchise sale.
If you are shopping beyond Steam, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is still $7.49 in the Epic Games Store sale until Monday.
Our take: try Rogue Core before you trust the reviews
A free weekend is the best kind of second chance for an Early Access game. Ghost Ship itself says the May launch missed, and its fixes target the two priorities it took from player feedback: more control over your own run and less friction during it. Difficulty settings, upgrade rerolls and an adjustable timer are exactly the kind of changes you can only judge by playing. Grab a squad, play a few runs before Monday, and decide for yourself. If it clicks, $14.99 is half the regular $29.99 price. Skyrim at $7.99 is the easy pick for anyone who still somehow does not own it on PC.
