Civilization V is free on Steam this weekend as it ventures toward a Brave New World

The honeycombed world of Civilization V is all yours to plunder this weekend, with the turn-based strategy going free-to-play for all Steam users.

The honeycombed world of Civilization V is all yours to plunder this weekend, with the turn-based strategy going free-to-play for all Steam users. The event comes to us to celebrate the onset of upcoming expansion Brave New World, which is now also pre-orderable.

The free "weekend" begins right now(if only real life would follow suit, huh?) and lasts until 1 p.m. PDT this Sunday. It's a good chance for non-owners of Civ to give it a whirl and decide whether or not to buy the base game and its upcoming expansion pack—Brave New World will retail for $30/£20 upon its July 12 release or at 10% off for pre-orders.

And finally, all editions of the Civ V franchise are also 75% offtill June 11. If you play during the free weekend and decide to pick up Civ after that, don't worry; your saves will be carried over into your new copy of the game.