I don't know if you've paying attention to recent releases, but there's a lot of video game activity and interest on the personal computer right now. More so than normal in fact. It's almost as if the platform is currently the nexus of some very popular releases. With this current spark of interest in the platform, PC developers would be wise to try and attract some portion of this PC gaming player resurgence, which is exactly what S2, the developer behind the Savage franchise, is taking advantage of this week.
For the next six days, S2's Heroes of Newerth, the strategy game "inspired" by the popular Defense Of The Ancients gametype that gained prominence in Warcraft III, is going 100% free-to-play. From now until August 9, players who register for a HoN account will have access to every single piece of content S2 has created for the game: all 65 heroes, stat-tracking and multiplayer ladders, VOIP service, and every single map.
Once August 9th comes around and the free week ends, players interested in sticking around will have the option of buying a full license for Heroes of Newerth for a one-time payment of $30.
I was being a little coy earlier in this story, but I do think S2 has timed their free week optimally: people are way more interested in PC strategy games than they were a month ago. Game players have the strategy game fever in a way that hasn't been present in video games for a long time. If S2 is able to entice even a handful of people playing StarCraft II now to put down some money for Heroes of Newerth, it could mean a huge boost to the game's popularity. It's a gambit that might very well pay off for S2.