Overwatch is free to play until January 4

(Image credit: Blizzard)

The Steam Winter Sale kicked off today, Epic is giving away more games than I play in a year, GOG's got a freebie of its own, and the Humble Store is offering the Humble Choice Premium for just $6 per month for six-month subscriptions. But if that's not enough to keep you sufficiently occupied for the holidays, Blizzard has one more for the pile: The hero shooter Overwatch is free to play until January 4.

Overwatch has gone free numerous times in the past, but typically just for a weekend, not two solid weeks. The trial version includes access to the full game, including all heroes and modes, and any progress that you earn (which could be quite a bit, given how much time you've got to sink into it) will carry over to the full release.

Overwatch is also on sale for the duration of the trial period: The Overwatch Legendary Edition, which includes bonus skins and Overwatch-themed cosmetics for World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, StarCraft 2, and Heroes of the Storm, is half-price, dropping it to $20, while the standard edition is down to $15—that's 25 percent off the regular $20 price.

And if that's not enough to keep your gaming hands full for the next couple of weeks, Blizzard is getting in on the holiday sale action too, with discounts of up to 65 percent on Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, StarCraft, and Hearthstone card packs and Tavern Passes, all of which you can flip through at battle.net.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.