Yakuza spin-off Lost Judgment and Far Cry 6 are free to play on Xbox this weekend
For Live Gold and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
If you're an Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber in search of some video-game-shaped entertainment this weekend, you might want to point yourself in the direction of your Xbox, where Yakuza spin-off Lost Judgment, city builder Before We Leave, and Far Cry 6 are all free to play for a limited time.
Lost Judgment is the sequel to 2018's Judgment, and sees the return of protagonist Takayuki Yagami, an ex-defence-attorney turned private detective, for an possibly even more sprawling open-world adventure through Kamurocho and Isezaki Ijincho. Things take a darker turn this time, however, with a story of sexual assault, suicide and bullying centring around a school where much of the investigatory action takes place.
Eurogamer's Martin Robinson applauded the strength of developer RGG Studio's typically activity packed open-world in his review, but felt Lost Judgment's lurching tone struggled with the seriousness of its themes. "Video games can and should tackle serious issues," he wrote, "I'm just not sure the video game with the skateboarding detective who spends his spare time getting drunk, playing arcade games and tracking down underwear thieves is the one to be juggling themes of suicide, bullying and sexual assault."
Lost Judgment, if you're curious to give it a go yourself, is free to play right now for all Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers as part of Microsoft's regular Free Play Days initiative and will remain so until this Sunday, 27th March, at 6.59am in the UK.
Joining Lost Judgment as part of this latest free weekend are last year's Far Cry 6 - a solid entry for the series which this time takes Ubisoft's open-world FPS formula to the fictional Caribbean island of Yara - and city builder Before We Leave. This latter unfolds in a "cosy corner" of the universe and sees players attempting to help their Peeps thrive as they emerge out into the sunlight after generations underground. "Start rebuilding their lost civilisation by providing shelter, uncovering ancient technology, and expanding this reborn society to other continents and planets," explains developer Balancing Monkey Games.
To get started with any of the games included in this latest Free Play Days, you simply need to download them from the Xbox store. Progress made can be carried over to the full release (all of which are currently discounted) should you opt for a purchase once the free weekend ends.