Marvel’s Midnight Suns, developed by Marvel Games and Firaxis Games, has announced a slew of news today involving its future content plans. The tactical role-playing game which features Marvel heroes from the Avengers, X-Men, and the Midnight Sons will be available to play for free between February 16 to 10 am PT, February 19 on the Steam store in what’s being labeled as an “All-Access Weekend.”
This news followed an announcement that revealed that the classic Spider-Man villain Venom would be joining the game as its next DLC addition in a “Redemption pack” that will launch February 23. This DLC pack will also include new hero abilities, more customizable cosmetics, and three new story missions.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns takes inspiration from Firaxis’ primary game series XCOM with its turn-based combat system. The player controls a customizable character called The Hunter, who can be equipped with different superpower abilities. The game also includes card collection and deck-building elements, gameplay-affecting social interaction with different Marvel heroes, and potential world exploration as the player moves along its narrative.
While this free-to-play period is likely meant to drum up excitement for the game’s upcoming DLC, it could also be a marketing tactic to build up the game’s small player base. While Marvel’s Midnight Suns received generally favorable reviews scoring an 82 Metascore on Metacritic, it has been called “a commercial flop” by Take-Two Interactive’s CEO, who hopes that the game will have a more successful long-term sales run like other Firaxis franchises like XCOM and Civilization.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is currently available for the Windows, Xbox X|S, and PlayStation 5 platforms, with supposed additional releases coming for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One at a later date.