Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Multiplayer is free on Xbox One consoles for Big Game Weekend event

Jon Silman
By

Microsoft is unlocking multiplayer on all Xbox One consoles starting on August 6 and running through August 10, with an event called the Big Gaming Weekend.

There are no catches, and all players that don’t have Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass will be able to participate.

Recommended Videos

“We’re unlocking a bunch of games so now is the time to prep your download queue!” Microsoft said in a release.

Related

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer is available during this period, and players can get a free Call of Duty: Warzone download.

“This weekend, everyone plays! Anybody can enjoy free access to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer, Borderlands 3, Dragon Ball Fighterz, and Black Desert on their consoles this weekend,” Microsoft said.

PC players gain access to Gears 5, Subnautica, and Ark: Survival Evolved. The Big Gaming Weekend provides access to six Xbox Game Pass games.

“Your friends don’t have Xbox Game Pass? This weekend everyone gets a taste of Xbox Game Pass with Monster Hunter World, Ark: Survival Evolved, Gears 5, Elder Scrolls Online, Subnautica, and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, that are free to play,” Microsoft said.

Another notable title is Black Desert, a sandbox MMORPG where players hunt monsters, fight gigantic bosses, and train life skills like fishing, cooking, trading, and crafting.

Microsoft has been steadily pushing Xbox Game Pass, a service that provides access to more than 100 games, as well as all of the benefits of an Xbox Live Gold subscription. The Big Gaming Weekend promotion is part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Summer Mode, an eight-week event featuring perks, games, and rewards points that started on July 24.

Summer Mode features perks like three months of unlimited free deliveries with Postmates Unlimited, as well as the ability to enter a sweepstakes for a golden Xbox One X console.

Big Gaming Weekend runs from midnight August 6, at 12:01 a.m. PT through 12 a.m. PT on August 10. Some games will be locked based on the region.

Here’s the full list of games:

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (only multiplayer)
  • Gears 5
  • Black Desert
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ
  • Monster Hunter World
  • Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
  • Borderlands 3 
  • Subnautica
  • Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker
  • Ark: Survival Evolved

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jon Silman
Jon Silman
Fallout 4 is finally getting free Xbox Series X and PS5 upgrades
New Fallout 4 Creation Club mod content coming with the Xbox Series X and PS5 launch.

Bethesda has confirmed that the current-gen update for Fallout 4 will finally release on April 25.

That's good timing, as a Fallout TV show just released on Amazon Prime this month to positive buzz. Fallout 4 came out for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One in 2015, and this definitely looks like it will be the most substantial update the game has received since its last expansion was released.

Read more
Animal Well will be part of the PS Plus Game Catalog from day one
Key art for Animal Well

Sony revealed the batch of video games that will come to PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra's Game Catalog over the next month. The headliners are three new day-one additions to the service, including the already-confirmed Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Dave the Diver as well as Animal Well.

Animal Well launches on May 9 and has caught Digital Trends' eye for being an eerie Metroidvania that won't hold players' hands as they explore. It is also the first game that will be published by Bigmode, a fledgling publisher founded by YouTuber Videogamedunkey. PS Plus Premium and Extra's game catalog had historically been less focused on games coming to the service on day one than has Xbox Game Pass, but that's finally starting to shift. While Tales of Kenzera: Zau comes out on April 23 and Animal Well will be released on May 9, Dave the Diver and the following PS1, PS4, and PS5 games will come to PS Plus' Game Catalog on April 16:

Read more
You need to play this underrated zombie shooter before it leaves Xbox Game Pass
A massive Ridden in Back 4 Blood.

All of us have gaming opinions that go against the grain or zeitgeist around certain titles. Oftentimes, it’s because your personal opinion on a title is negative -- I was like that with Sonic Frontiers -- but it can go in a more positive direction. For me, a game I’m a very positive outlier on is Back 4 Blood, a Left 4 Dead successor developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by WB Games.

Although Back 4 Blood got decent reviews from critics, the public's general response toward the title is more mixed on platforms like Steam. Fewer people are playing it than Left 4 Dead 2 on PC at this point. I've always loved this game, as I enjoy the variance and replay value it introduces, as also think the different playable characters and level design make this one of the most enjoyable co-op shooters of the past several years.

Read more