To celebrate the launch of Gathering Storm, the newest expansion pack for Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 on PC, 2K Games and Firaxis have announced that they will be making the base game free to play for everyone over the next two days on Steam. This means you just download it and jump right into it.

Of note is the fact that you won’t get either of the two expansion packs for the game, but the base game is actually fairly strong on its own merits, even if it stands as a step down from Civilization 5 with Gods and Kings and Brave New World. During this period, the game is also available for 70% off, which means that if you are even remotely impressed by what you play, you should probably jump on it now.

As for the new expansion pack, it adds new mechanics such as environmentalism, as well as new factions such as Canada, for the first time ever in the history of the franchise. Civilization 6 is available now on PC, Mac, and Linux. The game, without any of the expansions, is also out on mobile and Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo isn’t usually known for discounting its high-profile exclusives on the Nintendo Switch. However, with the eShop’s new year’s sale going live until January 10th, Switch owners can get a number of great titles at fair discounts. This includes releases like Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler and Nintendo’s Splatoon 2.

Titles like Octopath Traveler, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2,and Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition can be yours for $42. This makes for a nice $18 off of their original asking prices. Other titles like Starlink: Battle for Atlas Digital Edition and Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 are also discounted to $29.99 and $44.99 respectively.

Even better is the deal on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Gold Edition. At $26.39, you get the base game and its Season Pass, the latter providing eight new solo challenges, five new co-op maps, and 16 new weapons. You even get to play with Donkey Kong in his own dedicated storyline in Donkey Kong Adventure. Considering the original asking price of $79.99, that’s a pretty good deal overall.

It looks like the teasing was leading up to exactly what many suggested it would be leading up to. Firaxis has announced Gathering Storm, a brand new expansion pack for Civilization 6, and the second one, following Rise and Fall.

Gathering Storm will be the single largest expansion pack Civilization has ever gotten, and will be adding quite a lot of things to the game. Features from Brave New World, which were missing from Civilization 6, such as the World Congress, and diplomatic victories, are being added back to the game, while the game is doubling down on dynamic environmentalism too.

Natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are also a thing to contend with, usage of resources like fossil fuels will have effects for you to consider, and you can directly change the lay of the land with engineering projects. All of this, plus new civilizations, new leaders, new buildings, new wonders, a new future age, and new scenarios are being added to the game too.

It sounds like a very full featured expansion, and hopefully the final game benefits as immensely from it as Civilization 5 did from Brave New World. Civilization 6 is out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, and iOS. The Gathering Storm will launch for the PC version of the game on February 14, 2019.

Out of nowhere, Firaxis has announced that Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 will be releasing for Nintendo Switch on November 16th. The turn-based 4X strategy title first released for PC in October 2016.

As a follow-up to the legendary turn-based strategy series, Civilization 6 on Switch will feature all updates released for it till date. It will also include the Vikings Scenario Pack, Poland Civilization and Scenario Pack, Australia Civilization and Scenario Pack, and the Persia and Macedon Civilization and Scenario Pack.

Overall, that’s a bunch of new civilizations, leaders, and so on to play around with. Cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to 4 players will also be possible. All the other features that fans have come to like and/or loathe about Civilization 6 are also included, like Warmonger penalties and the Loyalty system.

Interestingly, there’s no mention of Rise and Fall, Civilization 6’s first full-length expansion that released in February 2018 and brought forth the Cree civilization. Perhaps it will be sold separately for Nintendo Switch in the future. It currently retails for $29.99 on Steam.