Not even a week after DuckTales: Remastered was removed from Steam, Grid 2 has followed it into the memory hole. Codemasters' racing game presumably had to be removed from sale for the same reason its predecessor did a couple of years ago—expiring licenses, either for its car models or the songs on its soundtrack.

Grid 2 was given away on the Humble Store in March, and the previous Grid was offered for free before disappearing as well. That's a nice way to go about it, making sure as many copies are out in the world as possible so that the historically minded can preserve them. It's certainly better than simply having games vanish out of the blue one day, as recently happened to Sega's spy RPG Alpha Protocol.

As is usually the case with Steam's delisted games, anyone who owned Grid 2 already will be able to download it in perpetuity. The next game in the series, confusingly called GRID, will be out on October 11.

The Codemasters racing game Grid 2 is an oldie but a goodie, earning 82/100 in our 2013 review. "More fun than a sim," we said, and "spectacular to look at," with challenging AI, plenty to do, and smooth performance on a mid-range rig. It's a testament to the game's durability that six years after release, it's still selling for $30 at regular price. For the next three days on the Humble Store, however, it is free. 

And not just Grid 2, but also the Bathurst and Spa-Francorchamps track packs, each with new tracks to tear up and new cars to do it with. Just click the "Get the Game" button and follow the subsequent instructions, and Steam keys for all will be delivered unto you. Take note that the keys themselves are time-limited, and must be redeemed on Steam by 10 am PT on March 21, or they will expire and you will be left with nothing. 

The Humble Store Grid 2 freebie will be available until 10 am PT on March 17, or while supplies last. Since that does actually happen—a limited number of codes are available for each giveaway—you probably shouldn't dawdle. 

If for some reason you budget your video game spending by the weekend, then here's good news: you can spend that money on something else. May I suggest: nicer food. A new pair of shoes. A trip to the nearest theme park. 

The reason is, Steam is making ten games free this weekend as part of its aptly titled Free Weekend promotions. The games include Company of Heroes 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Grid 2. You'll have over 48 hours to play them, as they unlock 10am Pacific time on Thursday, October 16. After that you'll need to pay for them, with the promise of substantial discounts.

Here's the list:

Awesomenauts Blade Symphony Company of Heroes 2 Don't Starve Grid 2 Injustice Killing Floor Payday 2 Trine 2 XCOM: Enemy Unknown

It's a good week for free games: GOG.com is giving away Alien versus Predator Classic this week as part of a GOG Galaxy test run.