Street Fighter 5 is free to play on Steam this weekend

Now's a great time to get into Street Fighter 5. Not only is the game completely free to play via Steam through the end of the weekend, but players who find it worth their time can pick up the game for just $7.99 until August 14, 60% off its usual list price. No need to thank us for your Friday night plans.

After a rather quiet first half of 2019 for Street Fighter 5, Capcom walked the fighting game back into the spotlight at Evo 2019, where three new fighters were to be revealed: E. Honda, Lucia, and Poison. Unfortunately for Capcom, the new characters were leaked on Steam just days before the big event, but the news at least confirmed that Street Fighter 5 was still alive and well.

Now, with a full weekend for players to familiarize themselves with the latest fighting game in the iconic Street Fighter franchise free of charge, it's possible we'll see a resurgence in the playerbase in coming months. And with the release of Mortal Kombat 11 this year, the classic arcade fighting genre is still going strong in 2019, which is kind of amazing when you think about how old the formula is.

This isn't the first time Capcom has used a free-trial period to increase Street Fighter 5's reach in the face of Mortal Kombat 11's recent success. Just earlier this year, Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition was available for free on PC and PS4 along with all of its modes. This time around, it's just Steam players who are getting to play for free.

See how Street Fighter 5 ranks in our list of the 25 best fighting games to play right now.