Following the introduction of a brand new character to the Overwatch roster earlier this week, Blizzard has another surprise in store for fans of the best-selling shooter this weekend. Back in May, in order to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the game, Blizzard has made it free to play for a weekend on all gaming platforms. For people that have not tried the title out before, or for fans that have not played the game in a while, Overwatch will now be free to play on PC once again this weekend.

The Overwatch free-to-play weekend will start on July 26th and end on July 30th, and the game will be available for all Overwatch players in Europe, Asia, and in the Americas from 11:00 am PDT on July 26th. In order to download and play the game, players will need to register for a Blizzard account via the Overwatch free weekend client, which will also become available on July 26th with the commencement of the event.

Just as in the previous free-to-play weekend, players will be able to access the full roster of heroes, including Overwatch's new hero, the aforementioned Wrecking Ball. Additionally, players will be able to access all 18 maps in the game, and modes such as Quick Play, Arcade, and Custom Games will also be available to try out.

Most of the normal features of the game will remain for the event, such as the ability to level up and earn items from loot boxes, however, achievements are disabled during the free-to-play weekend. Luckily for anyone who decides to buy Overwatch after trying it out, all the progress made during the free period will be saved, as long as players use the same account from the free weekend to buy the full game.

It is not a coincidence that this weekend also hosts the finals of the Overwatch League season between the London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion teams. The free-to-play weekend may in fact have been introduced as a celebration of the culmination of this prestigious event. Whatever the reason, though, this weekend is a great opportunity for those to try out the game if they have not already, and to see why it's one of the most popular online games in the world.

Overwatch is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.