Warhammer: Vermintide 2 celebrates 5 years with a free weekend and special anniversary level

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is five years old, and that means it's free to play over the weekend. The big birthday celebration also sees the return of A Quiet Drink, a special event level in which players brawl with a horde of Ratmen and Chaos Warriors while trying to find someplace to get a drink.

We liked Vermintide 2 an awful lot when it came out in 2018, declaring in our 80% review that its bad matchmaking and RPG progression were more than made up for by "feverishly fun" combat and level design. Since then it's gotten a steady stream of updates, both free and paid, including the great roguelike-inspired Chaos Wastes mode. Vermintide 2 was a major hit for Fatshark, and remains popular to this day: In fact, its peak concurrent player count over the past couple of months hasn't been far off that of Fatshark's most recent release, the troubled Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, which just launched in November 2022. Work on that game continues, but Fatshark apparently also has plans to continue with Vermintide 2.

"I think it’s fair to say that none of us thought Vermintide 2 would have such a lasting impact and still be so popular after half a decade," said Martin Wahlund, CEO of Vermintide 2 developer Fatshark. "We’re immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished with the game and still quite excited about its future. Of course, we wouldn’t be here without all the support from our players, so stay tuned for even more Vermintide 2 in 2023."

The Warhammer: Vermintide 2 free weekend runs until March 13, and it's on sale for 80% off on Steam—that's $6/£5/€6—until March 16. Fatshark is also awarding triple XP to all Vermintide 2 players until March 19.