Two different things get filed under "upcoming free PC games", and mixing them up costs you a weekend. A launch is a game that arrives free on day one — Aniimo on September 16, Aion 2 on October 5. An F2P switch is a game you currently have to pay to enter that stops charging on a known date — Path of Exile 2 on December 11, after two years of paid early access.
Everything below carries a status: confirmed, announced, or unknown. Confirmed means a publisher has put the day in writing. Announced means the game exists and the date does not. Unknown means nobody knows, including the people telling you a window on Reddit. Today is September 7, 2026; the board is accurate as of this morning.
Aniimo on September 16 is the only locked free launch this month
September 16 is the one date on this board with a time attached. Aniimo goes live at 10:00 UTC+8 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, free, with 45 GB listed on its Steam page. Mobile follows on September 23. FunPlus and Pawprint Studio set the date at Gamescom in late August.
What the July beta told me
I played the global closed beta on July 9 on PC, the first test with the shop switched on. Creatures are caught, not pulled — no banner, no pity counter — and the executive producer has said publicly that monetization is aimed at cosmetics. That is the single claim I will be re-checking on the 16th, because a beta shop and a launch shop are not the same shop.
Clear the 45 GB before the 16th, not on it. Launch-day queues and a first-time file pull at the same time is how you miss the opening evening.
The dated board: platform, size and status in one place
Read the status column before the date column. A date without a status is a rumour with better formatting, and three of the games people are asking about right now do not have one at all.
What the rows change for you
- Aion 2 has two dates, and only one of them is free. September 30 is Founder's Pack early access — you pay for a five-day head start. October 5 is the free global launch.
- The September 17-18 Launch Scale Test is free and open to everyone, no key and no invite list, per NC's August 26 notice. Pre-load opens September 16. Level cap 37, shop off, full wipe afterwards.
- Storage is the real gate, not your graphics card. 45 GB for Aniimo, around 100 GB of free space asked for Aion 2.
Path of Exile 2 is the F2P switch that actually changes the price
December 11 is the date to circle if you have been waiting out the paywall. Path of Exile 2 leaves early access at 1.0 that day and is free-to-play from then on, on Steam, the Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series. Grinding Gear Games confirmed it at Gamescom on August 25, alongside the remaining campaign Acts and the Duelist class.
Why this one counts and a Founder's Pack does not
I bought into Path of Exile 2 early access when it opened in December 2024 and have followed it through every league since — the entry fee was the barrier the whole time, not the game. On December 11 that barrier is gone.
A Founder's Pack is not an F2P switch. Aion 2's packs sell you five days, cosmetics and stash space. The game was always going to be free on October 5. Buying in early is a scheduling choice, not an access one.
Discover Aniimo — free, PC, September 16
Official page on Steam and Epic. Free at launch, 45 GB. Clear the space before the 16th so you are not pulling files while the servers open.
Discover Aniimo →Announced with no date: what I will not put on the calendar
Four games people expect this year have no release date, and saying so is more useful than a fabricated window.
- Nodusfall — HoYoverse's dark fantasy action project, revealed at Gamescom on August 25. No date, no platform list beyond a PC showing.
- Honkai: Nexus Anima — creature collector, free-to-play at launch. Its Evolution Test closed beta ran from July 9 on PC and mobile. No date.
- Petit Planet — HoYoverse's life sim, free, Winter 2026 window only, on its own PC client and Epic. A final beta test starts September 20. The December 31 entry on store pages is a placeholder, not a date.
- MIR5 — Wemade's PC MMORPG, global release still unscheduled.
The rule I hold to
If a studio has not named a day, you get "unknown" from me. A window you can't plan around is worse than an empty cell.
Two checks before you clear the space
Space and monetization are the only two things that turn a good date into a wasted evening.
- Storage: 45 GB and roughly 100 GB back to back is 145 GB in three weeks. If your drive is tight, the size-and-settings breakdown in our Setup section covers which free games are genuinely light and what to turn down first.
- Money: "free at launch" tells you nothing about how the game earns afterwards. Aniimo says cosmetics, Aion 2 is an MMO with a cash shop, Path of Exile 2 sells stash tabs. Our Reviews piece on how free PC games make their money is the place to check before you commit a hundred hours.
Upcoming free PC games and F2P switches, status as of September 7, 2026. Sizes are publisher-listed storage figures; blank means not published.
| Game | Date | Status | PC platform | Size / space |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aniimo | September 16 | Confirmed (10:00 UTC+8) | Steam, Epic | 45 GB |
| Aion 2 Launch Scale Test | September 17-18 | Confirmed, free, open to all | Steam, PURPLE | Pre-load September 16 |
| Aion 2 early access | September 30 | Confirmed, Founder's Pack only | Steam, PURPLE | ~100 GB space |
| Aion 2 global launch | October 5 | Confirmed, free | Steam, PURPLE | ~100 GB space |
| Path of Exile 2 1.0 | December 11 | Confirmed, F2P switch | Steam, Epic | Not published |
| Petit Planet | Winter 2026 | Window only, no day | Official client, Epic | Not published |
| Honkai: Nexus Anima | Unknown | Announced, no date | PC and mobile | Not published |
| Nodusfall | Unknown | Announced, no date | PC shown | Not published |
| MIR5 global | Unknown | Announced, no date | PC | Not published |
Read next
- Free games to play on PC: platform, size and business model — Pillar of the silo — the wide view for a reader who wants the whole free-to-play landscape, not just the calendar.
- Light free PC games: size in GB and settings — Directly answers the 45 GB / 100 GB storage objection raised in the reserves section.
- How free PC games make their money — Covers the monetization question this news piece deliberately does not judge.