Square Enix’s foray into the looter-shooter genre is available for free on Steam this week, giving players a chance to play the full version ofOutriders. WhileOutridershas always had a free demo available, this free play event allows players to progress as far as they are able over the course of the limited time period.
Outriderswas released in April 2021, created by Polish developer People Can Fly and published by Square Enix. People Can Fly is known best for games likePainkillerandBulletstorm, along with collaborations with Epic Games onFortniteand theGears of Warseries. As a looter-shooter in the same vein asDestinyandBorderlands,Outridershas players choosing one of four classeswith a variety of abilities and skill trees, using acquired loot and crafting to augment their playstyle and tackle increasingly difficult content. The game received average reviews, with players enjoying the gunplay and loot despite the presence of bugs and some poor design choices.
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From June 20 to June 23,Outriderswill be free to play on Steam in its entirety. Players have reportedly completed the campaign in around 12 hours, although it will likely take closer to 30 hours if players take their time to explore and complete side content such as side quests, bounties, and hunts. That being said, a three-day window to play the game without limits should be plenty of time for players to experience much of its content beyond the free demo.TheOutridersdemo can be played for an unlimited time, but the content is limited to the prologue and first chapter, taking around three hours to reach the level 7 cap.
This free play period is helping promoteOutriders' upcomingWorldslayerDLC.Worldslayerwill be the first expansion forOutriders, bringing a standalone campaign along with new enemies and environments to explore.Worldslayerwill introduce new Legendary Armor sets, some of which will be equipable by all four classes. Alsocoming withWorldslayeris a new PAX tree system, a separate skill tree for each class. This tree will use PAX points to activate nodes from two different branches, which gives players opportunities for coming up with hybrid builds or further specializing their character.
With the major New Horizon update making tons of community-requested features and the game’s first campaign DLC coming up,Outridersis experiencing somewhat of a revival after its troublesome launch. Hopefully, the free-to-play period will bolster the game’s numbersahead of theWorldslayerDLC releaseand inspire People Can Fly to continue improving the game according to player feedback.
Outridersis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. TheWorldslayerexpansion releases June 30.
