Best Free-to-Play PC Games in 2026, Sorted by Genre

The short version: if you want a big world and a lot of characters, start with the open-world action RPGs. If you want fast team shooters, look at Marvel Rivals and the extraction shooters. If your PC is old, the strategy games and a few shooters ask for far less. Here is how we sorted them: free to play on Steam, with a released Steam build, and judged on what the store listing and the player reviews actually show, as of October 4, 2026 (UTC) for 13 titles and October 16, 2026 (UTC) for the 8 added since. Not hands-on tested.

How we sorted them

We included games that Steam lists as free to play, that have a released Steam build, and that have user reviews. That gave 21 games.

• Left out: Foundation: Galactic Frontier, because its Steam page still shows "Coming soon" with no reviews, and Genshin Impact, because we found no Steam listing for it when we searched Steam's store on October 4, 2026 (UTC).
• What each row shows: Steam's player rating and review count, the minimum RAM and storage on the store page, and the controller support Steam lists.
• What "type" means: the genre grouping is ours. Steam's own tags are broader and less consistent.
• Free is not spend-free: every Steam listing we read carries the "In-App Purchases" flag. Our guide to how free games make money explains what that does and does not tell you.

The 21 at a glance

One table, sorted by type, with the numbers that decide most picks: rating, sample size, RAM, storage and controller support.

Open-world and action RPGs

This is the strongest group on Steam player ratings: all four are rated Very Positive, from 82.9% to 87.8%. It is also the group with the biggest storage needs, from 75 GB to 150 GB.

• NTE: Neverness to Everness. Steam describes a supernatural urban open-world RPG from Hotta Studio, published by Perfect World Games, with a Steam listing date of Jul 7, 2026. Pick this if you want the newest arrival in the group. Skip it if your PC has less than 16 GB RAM or 110 GB free. The catch: its 7,018 reviews are the smallest sample in the group, so its rating is the least settled.
• Where Winds Meet. An open-world action-adventure RPG set in ancient China, per its Steam page. Pick this if you want the largest review sample in the group (115,897) and full controller support. Skip it if you have under 130 GB free. The catch: the Steam page says there is no pay-to-win and that monetization is limited to cosmetic items. That is the publisher's claim, and we have not verified it.
• Wuthering Waves. Steam describes a story-rich open-world action RPG from KURO GAMES. Pick this if you want a rating backed by 56,797 reviews. Skip it if you have under 150 GB free. The catch: it is the largest storage need in this entire list, and the recommended tier says "SSD Required.".
• Zenless Zone Zero. An urban fantasy action RPG, per Steam. Pick this if your PC has 8 GB RAM: it is the only game in the group whose listed minimum fits. Skip it if you want an open world, because Steam does not describe it as one. The catch: Steam lists partial controller support and says a gamepad is recommended.

Battle royale

NARAKA: BLADEPOINT and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS are the two battle royale titles in this list, and their review bases could not be more different in scale.

• NARAKA: BLADEPOINT. Steam's own description centers on melee combat, a grappling hook and a shrinking battlefield; Steam's own tags do not include a dedicated "Battle Royale" label. Pick this if you want its rating, which runs noticeably higher in English (81.1%) than across all languages (73.3%). Skip it if you have under 90 GB free. The catch: Steam separately asks players to disable Windows Memory Integrity and VBS before playing, a step this article did not test.
• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. The battle royale that Steam's own listing credits with starting the genre. Pick this if you want the largest review base in this entire list by far, 2,748,495, more than 3.4 times War Thunder's. Skip it if a Mixed rating (60.5%) matters more to you than sample size. The catch: its most recent 200 English reviews run well above both its lifetime English and all-languages shares, a gap this article does not explain.

Hero, vehicle and co-op shooters

Four shooters sit in this group, from PvP hero combat to WWII squads to a decade-plus-old co-op looter-shooter.

• Marvel Rivals. A team-based PvP shooter with 6v6 matches from NetEase Games, rated 75.4% across 420,198 reviews. It lists 16 GB of RAM and 70 GB as the minimum, with full controller support. The catch: its latest 200 English reviews are 56.0% positive, well below its English overall figure of 76.4%.
• War Thunder. Steam calls it a free-to-play military game covering aviation, armoured vehicles and naval craft, and says it offers more than 3,000 vehicles, which is a publisher claim. It has 791,273 reviews at 71.2%, one of the largest review bases in this list, with a Steam listing date of Aug 15, 2013. It lists 4 GB of RAM and 70 GB as the minimum, and its recommended tier asks for 16 GB RAM and 95 GB.
• Enlisted. Darkflow Software and Gaijin Network's free-to-play WWII squad shooter, built around commanding a full squad rather than a single soldier, per the store page. Pick this if you want Linux/SteamOS support, which Marvel Rivals does not list. Skip it if you need controller support, since Steam does not list any. The catch: its all-languages rating (80.3%) reads higher than its own publisher's other title in this list, War Thunder (71.2%), though War Thunder's sample is far larger.
• Warframe. Digital Extremes' free-to-play co-op looter-shooter, live on Steam since March 25, 2013, longer than any other title in this list. Pick this if you want one of the largest and longest-settled review bases here, 680,086, tied with Zenless Zone Zero for the highest all-languages rating in this list at 87.8%. Skip it if you need controller support, since Steam does not list any. The catch: Steam gives only one specification tier; there is no published recommended tier at all.

Extraction shooters

The three extraction shooters are rated from Mixed to Mostly Positive, and their spec floors differ more than their ratings. Steam pages describe the genre as high-risk raids where loot can be lost.

• Arena Breakout: Infinite. Steam calls it a tactical extraction shooter and lists 6 maps and more than 75 weapons, which are publisher claims. Pick this if you want the highest rating in the group (74.0%, 77.6% in English). Skip it if you need controller support, because Steam does not list any. The catch: it has the highest RAM floor in the group, at 12 GB RAM.
• Delta Force. Steam describes operator-based extraction plus large-scale combined arms warfare. Pick this if you want full controller support. Skip it if a Mixed rating worries you: it is 57.7% overall and 65.5% in English. The catch: the rating split by language is large.
• STALZONE. Steam describes a PvPvE extraction shooter with a persistent world where you keep gear and long-term progress, but loot is at risk until you bring it back. Pick this if your PC is modest: it lists 4 GB RAM and 50 GB. Skip it if you rely on controller input. The catch: its English reviews are 67.7% positive against 72.1% overall.

MOBA

SMITE 2 is the only MOBA in this list.

• SMITE 2. Titan Forge Games and Hi-Rez Studios' free-to-play MOBA, an Unreal Engine 5-powered sequel per the store page, still carrying Steam's Early Access tag. Pick this if you want full controller support and a 30 GB storage minimum. Skip it if you want a finished, non-Early-Access release. The catch: Steam's listing publishes a minimum spec but no specific recommended tier, only a generic requirement for a 64-bit CPU and OS.

Survival

Once Human is the only survival game in this list.

• Once Human. Starry Studio and NetEase Games' free-to-play survival game, described by the publisher as a "Strange Worlds Survival Game." Pick this if you want a large, settled review base (191,132 reviews, Mostly Positive) and don't mind a 100 GB storage need that stays flat between the minimum and recommended tiers. Skip it if storage is tight. The catch: the store page separately flags chance-based in-game purchases without publishing odds.

Strategy and collection RPGs

These three titles, two MMO-style strategy games and one collection RPG, are rated Mixed (all languages), between 49.9% and 61.0%. Their minimum storage figures are small: 2 GB, 8 GB and 5 GB.

• Infinity Kingdom. Steam calls it a cartoon-style MMO strategy game. 49.9% of 1,308 reviews are positive (43.4% in English). It lists 2 GB of RAM and 2 GB as the minimum.
• Project Entropy. A sci-fi MMO strategy game from FunPlus International AG. Only 269 reviews, 51% positive, so the sample is small, the smallest in this list alongside Infinity Kingdom.
• RAID: Shadow Legends. Steam describes a collection RPG with more than 800 champions and 8 game modes, both publisher claims. It is 61.0% positive across 2,790 reviews and lists 5 GB of storage as the minimum.

MMORPGs

MU: Dark Epoch, Throne and Liberty and Albion Online cover very different scales of MMORPG, from a mobile-style listing to a persistent sandbox economy.

• MU: Dark Epoch. The lightest listing in the entire set and the only one Steam describes as a mobile game. Steam describes it as a fantasy MMORPG mobile game. It lists 1 GB of RAM and 800 MB as the minimum, with a Windows 7 32-bit line in its requirements text. It is 58.9% positive across 721 reviews (54.2% in English), rated Mixed.
• Throne and Liberty. NC and FirstSpark Games' free-to-play MMORPG, published by Amazon Game Studios. Pick this if you want full controller support and a large review base (68,948). Skip it if a Mixed rating, 67.0% overall and running as low as 44.5% in its most recent English reviews, is a dealbreaker. The catch: the game requires a persistent internet connection; Steam's page states there is no offline mode.
• Albion Online. Sandbox Interactive's free-to-play sandbox MMORPG, live on Steam since May 16, 2018. Pick this if you want a 2 GB storage minimum, the second-smallest among this list's MMORPGs after MU: Dark Epoch's 800 MB, plus Mac or Linux support, which only War Thunder also lists among all 21 games here. Skip it if you want a themepark-style MMORPG rather than a player-driven economy. The catch: its most recent 200 English reviews (66%) run below both its all-time English and all-languages shares.

Which should you start with?

Match your PC and your taste to one line below, then check the live Steam page before you start.

What this list leaves out

Free-to-play does not mean free of pressure to spend, and a good rating does not mean a good fit for your PC. Check the requirements comparison before you start, read how players rate each game for the language and recency split, and follow the PC free-to-play news timeline for what has arrived on Steam in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free PC game right now?

It depends on what you want. By Steam's all-language rating, Zenless Zone Zero and Warframe share the lead in this list at 87.8%, and the four open-world and action RPGs are also all Very Positive. We have not hands-on tested any of them.

Which free PC games run on a low-end PC?

By listed minimum RAM, MU: Dark Epoch (1 GB RAM) and Infinity Kingdom (2 GB RAM) list the lowest floors, followed by War Thunder, STALZONE, Project Entropy, Albion Online and Warframe, all at 4 GB RAM.

Do free PC games on Steam have controller support?

Some do. In this list, Marvel Rivals, Delta Force, War Thunder, Where Winds Meet, SMITE 2 and Throne and Liberty list full controller support. NTE, Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, Albion Online, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS list partial support. Enlisted, Warframe and Once Human do not list controller support at all.

Are these games free to play?

Steam lists all of them as free to play, and every Steam listing we read carries the "In-App Purchases" flag. SMITE 2's listing also carries Steam's Early Access tag alongside Free To Play.

Sources and method

Data: Steam Store listings and Steam's public review data. The original 13 games were read on October 4, 2026 (UTC); Albion Online, Enlisted, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, Once Human, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, SMITE 2, Throne and Liberty and Warframe were added from an October 16, 2026 (UTC) reading. The genre grouping is editorial. Not hands-on tested. Last verified: 2026-10-17.

• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Where Winds Meet
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Arena Breakout: Infinite
• Delta Force
• STALZONE
• Marvel Rivals
• War Thunder
• Infinity Kingdom
• Project Entropy
• RAID: Shadow Legends
• MU: Dark Epoch
• Albion Online
• Enlisted
• NARAKA: BLADEPOINT
• Once Human
• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
• SMITE 2
• Throne and Liberty
• Warframe