Paradox Publisher Weekend Steam sale lets you play Stellaris for free

pcinvasion.com:

Not to be outmatched by Epic’s Mega Sale, Steam is hosting its own sale this weekend. As the name would imply the Publisher Weekend ends on May 23. The sale offers a variety of Paradox’s best games at a discounted price on Steam. Paradox Interactive is a Swedish publisher best known for publishing some of the most popular strategy games like Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris, which you can grab for free.

Speaking of Stellaris, the space-themed grand strategy game is available for free for the duration of the Paradox Interactive Publisher Weekend. However, this offer is only a free trial. Those who want to play Stellaris beyond that date will have to purchase it. On the bright side, it is currently on sale for $8.00 USD, which is 80% off its retail price.

The Paradox Publisher Weekend Steam offers discounts for the majority of games in Paradox’s catalog. Those interested can check out the full list of deals available on the Paradox Publisher Weekend sale page on Steam.

There are a lot of good deals but some stand out as particularly appealing. Highlights include Cities: Skylines at 75% off, Hearts of Iron IV at 75% off, Prison Architect at 53% off, and Europa Universalis IV at 55% off. These are all fantastic games that have received ‘Very Positive’ reviews on Steam and have a Metascore above 80.

Paradox is one of those publishers that takes an EA-inspired The Sims approach to DLC. Most of its biggest titles have a large amount of downloadable content that can get awfully expensive if you intend to buy it all. In addition to the games, the Paradox Interactive Publisher Weekend also offers a range of DLC at a discounted price. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include some of its newer DLC packs, with expansions like