Free Steam Games in November 2026: What You Can Keep and What’s Only a Free Weekend

Last Gambit is currently free to add to your Steam library, and its developer says you can keep it if you add it before 13 November 2026. PAYDAY 3 and Age of Wonders 4 are different: their free weekends provide temporary play access. There is also a free Hunting Simulator 3 DLC pack, but it requires the paid base game.

Checked: 7 November 2026. This is a dated selection of verified offers available around 5–13 November, rather than a promise about every giveaway throughout the month. Open the official page before claiming: offers, regional availability and store conditions can change.

Free Steam offers: what you can keep

The game and DLC links above lead to Steam. The PAYDAY 3 deadline is also confirmed in Starbreeze’s official event announcement. Age of Wonders 4’s event is confirmed by Paradox’s release announcement and its Steam store page.

Last Gambit: the full game you can retain

Last Gambit is a chess-inspired roguelite. Its Steam page announces a switch from free Early Access to a €4.99 paid release, or the regional equivalent, on 13 November. Existing Steam library owners retain it for free, according to the developer.

This is an Early Access price transition. It differs from a standard paid game temporarily discounted by 100%.

No precise cut-off hour was specified in the statement checked. Add the game before the date; a wishlist entry is not a library licence.

PAYDAY 3: a temporary trial with retained progress

Starbreeze’s official schedule sets the Steam free weekend from 5 November at 19:00 CET to 9 November at 19:00 CET. That end time is 18:00 UTC on 9 November. The publisher says progress made during the event remains available if you purchase the game later.

The same announcement lists a separate Steam sale ending on 12 November. The later sale deadline does not extend the free trial. It also says the free weekend does not apply to the Epic Games Store version, so use the correct storefront.

Age of Wonders 4: free to try, not a permanent giveaway

The Steam page for Age of Wonders 4 offers temporary free play until 9 November. The publisher’s Steam announcement gives the window as 5–9 November at 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 CET, equivalent to 18:00 UTC at the end. It is a fantasy strategy game combining empire management with turn-based battles.

A discounted purchase appears alongside the free-play option. Those are separate offers. Downloading the game during the trial does not turn the temporary access into a permanent purchase, and a base-game trial is not evidence that every paid expansion is included.

The free Hunting Simulator 3 pack is DLC

The Classic American Hunter Pack store page identifies the item as downloadable content and states that Hunting Simulator 3 is required to play it. It shows a free-to-keep offer ending on 12 November. The live store countdown should be used to confirm the precise cut-off in your region.

A free DLC licence does not include the base game. If you do not already own Hunting Simulator 3, compare the base-game cost with what you actually want to play before treating this as a free game.

What time do the two free weekends end?

The following conversions apply to the verified 18:00 UTC deadline for PAYDAY 3 on Steam and Age of Wonders 4. They do not apply to Last Gambit’s unspecified cut-off or to the DLC countdown.

How to claim the right offer

1. Open the official Steam link and check the exact product name. A DLC page and a base-game page can look similar.
2. Read the offer wording before pressing a button. A free weekend, a free-to-keep offer and a paid discounted edition grant different access.
3. Sign in to your own Steam account and use the free claim or play option shown for that product. If a payment total appears, pause and check which package you selected.
4. Confirm that the licence or game has been added to your account. Adding something to a wishlist does not complete a claim.
5. Before installing, check operating-system support, hardware requirements, storage and any third-party account requirements on the product page.

Valve’s Free to Keep documentation distinguishes a permanent free licence acquired during a promotion from the temporary licence granted by a free weekend. Its Free Weekends documentation explains the temporary-access format. Keeping installation files is not a substitute for retaining the licence needed to launch the game.

If a third-party “claim” page asks for payment details or sends you to an unfamiliar sign-in page, return to the official store link. Our guide to checking a website before paying online explains how to inspect the real domain and seller.

Official sources and scope

• Last Gambit on Steam: Early Access price-change and retention statement.
• PAYDAY 3: official free-weekend dates, storefront exclusions and progress policy.
• Age of Wonders 4 on Steam: temporary free-play offer.
• Paradox Interactive: 3 November 2026 announcement confirming the free weekend.
• Classic American Hunter Pack: Steam offer and base-game requirement.
• Valve: Free to Keep promotions; Valve: Free Weekends.

This article verifies the published offer terms; it does not report hands-on gameplay testing or a completed claim on a reader’s account. The featured image is an illustration of a PC gaming setup, not a screenshot proving any offer. Expired entries should be rechecked before relying on this dated list.