Marvel's Avengers free weekend starts July 29 on PC, PlayStation, and Stadia

A Marvel's Avengers free weekend is coming up on PlayStation, PC, and Stadia this month, giving players a chance to try out its newly revised matchmaking system.

The Marvel's Avengers free weekend will run from July 29 to August 1. That means it's going live just in time to try out the new ability to run with duplicates of the same hero in the same party; the option first debuted in April's limited-time Tachyon Anomaly event, and it sounds like players enjoyed it so much that Square Enix has decided to just make that the new normal going forward. Yes, that means you can make an entire team of Hulks or Ms. Marvels or whoever else you want.

The base contents of the entire game as well as its free updates will be fully accessible throughout the trial period. You can play through all of the base Reassemble campaign, check out the Kate Bishop and Hawkeye expansions, and check out the rest of the new Avengers Initiative content at your leisure; all of your progress will remain persistent if you decide to purchase the game and keep playing afterward.

You may have noticed that the free weekend is coming for all Avengers platforms except for Xbox: Square Enix says it's working with Xbox "to find the right time for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players to get their all-access opportunity" and that it will have more info to share soon - so Xbox players may have to wait a while longer, but at least you know you haven't been forgotten.

The next big update for Marvel's Avengers is the War for Wakanda expansion coming in August, which will include the long-awaited debut of Black Panther as a playable character and his nemesis Klaw as a new villain. The one-year anniversary of Marvel's Avengers is coming up on August 14, so chances are good that Square Enix has special plans for that occasion as well.

Elsewhere at Square Enix, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy looks like a promising next step for Marvel video games.