Today is Friday, and for reasons that may or may not be related—I cannot say, because I do not know—Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (opens in new tab) is free to keep on Steam.
It's not an anniversary or anything, as far as I can tell. Sonic 2 was originally released on November 21, 1992, and came to Steam on January 26, 2011. But in the big picture, I suppose it doesn't really matter: As long as you pop around to Steam before 1 pm ET on October 19 and click the green "add to account" button, it's free. You don't have to install it, you don't even have to think about it—it's just yours. Forever.
If, on the other hand, you are a true blue (get it?) Sonic fan, Sega also has a bunch of other Sonic games marked down pretty drastically, too.
- Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic Adventure DX (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic the Hedgehog (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic 3 and Knuckles (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic 3D Blast (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic Spinball (opens in new tab) - $1
- Sonic Adventure 2 (opens in new tab) - $2.50
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 (opens in new tab) and Episode 2 (opens in new tab) - $2.50 each
And if you're only here for the free stuff, that's okay! We've got a regularly updated list with even more free games you can grab right now (opens in new tab).