DOOM is free this weekend and all its multiplayer DLC is free forever

This DOOM update is a little bit evil.

The latest DOOM patch brings the shooter to version 6.66, which in the words of the immortal (?) Salmon Hater is 1/100th of The Number of the Beast.

That makes it 1% evil, probably, and the evil is easy to pinpoint: the update wipes DOOM's multiplayer progression, putting you back at zero. Aww. Veteran players will get a badge to indicate they were there in the old days, and can choose to keep some of their unlocks to date if they like.

The other option is to start fresh with DOOM's new multiplayer progression system, which is no longer reliant on RNG. Instead, you'll have to complete challenges and meet levelling requirements to unlock new gear.

The best bit, for those of you who've held off spending money, is that as of this update all of DOOM's multiplayer DLC has been folded into the base game for free. Look for new maps, weapons, armour sets and demons.

The update also delivers better kill notifications, and Hack Modules have been thrown out the window and replaced with Runes, which can be equipped persistently, too.

Update 6.66 is out now on all platforms, and to celebrate, a free trial is available for everyone this weekend. It offers the first two campaign levels, all multiplayer content and SnapMap, and if you enjoy yourself you can pick up the whole game for $15/£12/AUD$18 and carry your progress over.

Here are the times for the DOOM free weekend:

Xbox
• Start: 11am CT on Thursday 07/20
• End: 11pm CT on Sunday 07/23.

Steam
• Start: 12PM CT on Thursday 7/20
• End: 3PM CT on Sunday 07/23

PS4
• Start: 11am CT on Thursday 07/27
• End: 11pm CT on Sunday 07/30

The full patch notes for DOOM update 6.66 follow.

Multiplayer
• Fixed an issue where textures appeared to glow on the player’s character.
• Fixed an issue in Multiplayer where players would respawn frozen at the beginning of a Freeze Tag round.
• Fixed an issue in Multiplayer where parts of the player model appeared transparent in some circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where players would disconnect from a match under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue in Infernal Run where picking up the ball when out of ammo would cause problems with passing or receiving the ball.
• Fixed an issue with the Multiplayer Challenge “Aimbot Hax” where Reaper Longshots would not count towards challenge completion.
• Fixed an issue in Multiplayer with inconsistent power item spawns on Outbreak.

SnapMap
• Added rotate on XYZ axis to the Grab Object manipulate controls
• Added setting to remove network limitation on single player only maps.
• Resolved various freeze and crash bugs.
• Fixed various matchmaking and lobby issues.
• Fixed visual bugs that result from combining specific HUD elements
• Fixed various freezes and crashes with using Campaign Model.
• Fixed coop crash with Bob and Rotate settings.
• Fixed bug that caused AI to run into blocking volumes set to Block Demons and AI Sight.
• Improved collision issues causing AI to partially fall into blocking volumes set to Block Demons.