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Injustice 2 and NASCAR Heat 5 are free to play on Xbox this weekend

Jon Silman
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Microsoft’s “Free Play Days” event, where Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can download and play games for free all weekend, is back.

This weekend, from August 13 through 16, players can download Injustice 2 and NASCAR Heat 5.

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On the Microsoft Store, players must be signed in to download with a Xbox Live Gold membership.

After the free weekend, the games will be available for purchase at a discounted rate. The Injustice 2 standard edition will be discounted by 75%, to $10 from $40, and the ultimate pack will be 80% off — down to $8 from $40.

The NASCAR Heat 5 standard edition will be 20% off — down to $40 from $50 — and the gold edition will be 20% off ($56, down from $70).

In Injustice 2, players control superheroes and villains from the DC Universe. Marquee names like Superman, Batman, The Joker, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and others are playable in the game. Injustice 2 was developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros in 2017. The original game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, was released in 2013.

In a review, Digital Trends awarded Injustice 2 4.5 out of 5 stars and named it an Editor’s Choice game.

“The most expansive solo experience we’ve seen in a fighting game, Injustice 2 compels you to master its fast-paced, combo-driven combat,” the review said.

NASCAR Heat 5 is the latest NASCAR Cup Series championship video game, and it features all the official teams, drivers, and cars on 39 tracks. It was developed by 704 Games Company and published by Motorsport Games on July 9 of this year.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited is also available to play for free until 7 a.m. PT on August 19. It will be available for purchase at 50% off — $10, down from $20.

“All points earned and purchased downloadable content (DLC) carries over if you purchase the game at the end of the free period,” Microsoft said on its Free Play Days support site.

In addition to Free Play Days, Microsoft also runs a promotion that removes the need for an Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership altogether, called Xbox Free Play Days for All.

The promotion allows players to “compete in matches with friends and players across the world,” Microsoft said.

Previous Free Play Days games include Sims 4, Citadel: Forged with Fire, NASCAR Heat 4, Verdun, and Overwatch.

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Jon Silman
Jon Silman
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Overwatch 2 is going free-to-play this October. The upcoming competitive shooter from an embattled Activision Blizzard was expected to launch in 2023, but we learned that it was coming a bit earlier than expected and would be free during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase on June 12. Still, this is a shocking shift for one of Blizzard's biggest franchises and one that has a lot of implications for the pace of updates and new content. Ahead of a livestream that gives more details about the free-to-play shift, Digital Trends spoke to some members of the development team, including Game Director Aaron Keller and Overwatch VP and Commerical Lead Jon Spector, to learn why exactly the Overwatch 2 team decided to embrace free-to-play.
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Blizzard plans to make seasons last nine weeks, with three or four new heroes added yearly. If you play games like Apex Legends or Valorant, this cadence of releases should be familiar to you. Keller and Spector claim that other successful free-to-play games aren't what caused Blizzard to make this shift. Instead, they say factors like lowering the barrier of entry for interested players and not wanting to hold on to finished content played a part in Overwatch 2 going free-to-play.

"We don't want to develop things and try to pool it together into a big box release; we'd rather just put content out when it's ready and do it as quickly as we can," Keller says. "As we kept working on some of the more innovative gameplay for the PvE side of Overwatch 2, it meant that it was going to take longer for any of our PvP features to go public. We want to release stuff as frequently as we can, but it was taking us too long to be able to get it in front of our players."
The original Overwatch has floundered since it stopped getting significant content updates in 2020 so Blizzard could focus on Overwatch 2. By releasing the sequel as a free-to-play game this year, that long wait ends -- and players won't have to worry about it happening again for a long time. The developers also stressed that Overwatch 2 would feel more like a sequel than an update when it launches, thanks to the new content and rework into 5v5 matches. Spector explains that many systems fell in place simultaneously, like cross-play, cross-progression, and the seasonal model, so it made sense to lower the barriers to entry and launch free-to-play this year.
"We are dedicated to putting out content frequently and consistently in perpetuity."

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Atlus has perfected the JRPG and is now reveling in it. Persona 5 is one of the best games of the 2010s, thanks to its endearing cast of characters and impeccably stylish presentation. Meanwhile, Shin Megami Tensei V was no slouch in 2021 as it provided a dark and hardcore demon-driven RPG experience. After demoing the game at Summer Game Fest Play Days, t’s clear that Atlus has found a clear sci-fi middle ground with Soul Hackers 2.
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My demo of Soul Hackers 2 began in the Hangout, where protagonist Ringo and her party can hang out and heal between dungeon-crawling escapades. Then, I proceeded to go into the futuristic sci-fi city, buy some weapons, gear, and healing items from eccentric shopkeepers, and get a drink with my party members named Arrow.
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I didn’t spend enough time with this part of the game or the small character moments within it to get a feeling of whether or not its narrative will come together as well as Persona 5. Still, that game got me to fall in love with an eccentric cast of high-school cliche characters, so Soul Hackers 2 has the potential to do the same with a cast that leans into sci-fi stereotypes.

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