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Play PS4 Online Multiplayer Free This Weekend

 & Stephanie Mlot Contributor

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Got big plans to stay in and play video games all weekend? So does Sony.

Starting Friday, PlayStation 4 users can access the online multiplayer mode of any PS4 title without a PlayStation Plus subscription. That includes Call of Duty: Black Ops III and the new Awakening DLC pack.

Free access begins Feb. 19 at 3:01 a.m. ET (12:01 a.m. PST), and ends at 2:59 a.m. ET (11:59 p.m. PST) on Feb. 22. No membership commitment is required to try out online multiplayer during the promotion. If you can't tear yourself away come Monday, though, non-subscribers can pony up for access to free titles, up to 3GB of online game storage, and as much as 75 percent off titles in the PlayStation Store.

PlayStation Plus is available as a 14-day free trial, after which you can pay $9.99 for a one-month membership, $17.99 for three months, or $49.99 for a year's worth of gameplay.

Sony previously operated a free online multiplayer weekend in December, celebrating the just-released DLC Star Wars Battlefront Battle of Jakku.

This week marked the launch of Street Fighter V on PS4 and PC, which, according to PCMag sister site Geek, has already been experiencing major issues with random disconnects, unavailable servers, and slow matchmaking. As a result, this weekend is "certainly going to stress the PSN servers."

Sony, meanwhile, will spin off its PlayStation business this spring. The new Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) will combine Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation-related hardware and software with Sony Network Entertainment International's PlayStation Vue and PlayStation Store content.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

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Stephanie Mlot

Stephanie Mlot

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