Best Free-to-Play Hero Shooters of 2027 (Top 10 Ranked)

Team Fortress 2 is Valve’s free-to-play team shooter, and its Steam page describes nine distinct classes with a broad range of tactical abilities. It has the highest score here, 90% positive of 745,409 English-language user reviews, rated Very Positive. It released on Oct 10, 2007, the oldest game on the list, and is free to play on Windows and Linux. It is a repeat from our free-to-play Steam list; it belongs here because its Steam page carries the Hero Shooter tag and its classes are built around abilities.

Paladins is a fantasy team-based shooter from Evil Mojo Games, published by Hi-Rez Studios. Its Steam page describes over 50 Champions, which it calls the largest roster in the genre, making it our best-value pick. It shows 82% positive of 127,567 English-language user reviews (Very Positive), released on May 8, 2018, and is free to play on Windows.

Strinova is an anime-style third-person tactical competitive shooter from iDreamSky, which develops and publishes it. Its Steam page says you can switch freely between three-dimensional and two-dimensional forms. It shows 77% positive of 11,321 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), released on Nov 21, 2024, and is free to play on Windows.

Apex Legends is Respawn’s game, published by Electronic Arts, and its own Steam page calls it a free-to-play Hero Shooter with an ever-growing roster of characters with powerful abilities. It shows 76% positive of 453,467 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), the second-most reviews on this list, and released on Nov 4, 2020 on Windows. We list Apex Legends in our battle royale ranking too; it is repeated here because Steam’s own description calls it a hero shooter.

Marvel Rivals is NetEase Games’ Super Hero team-based PVP shooter, where you choose Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains with incredible abilities and combine powers in Team-Up skills. It shows 75% positive of 307,318 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive) and released on Dec 5, 2024. It is free to play on Windows on Steam. It also appears on our free-to-play Steam list; it is repeated because its characters are ability-based heroes.

FragPunk is a 5v5 hero shooter from Bad Guitar Studio, published by NetEase Games, in which Shard Cards let you break the rules of combat so no two rounds are the same. It shows 75% positive of 24,308 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), released on Mar 6, 2025, and is free to play on Windows.

Rogue Company is a third-person tactical action shooter from First Watch Games, published by Hi-Rez Studios, where each agent has their own skills, weapons and gadgets. It shows 74% positive of 12,556 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), released on Jul 20, 2021, and is free to play on Windows.

Farlight 84 is Farlight Games’ hero shooter with 60-player shootouts and unlimited respawns, where you play uniquely skilled heroes and tame Buddy pets. It shows 72% positive of 19,939 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), released on Sep 21, 2023, and is free to play on Windows.

Mecha BREAK is Amazing Seasun Games’ multiplayer third-person shooter with ground and aerial combat, in which you pilot a Striker. It shows 71% positive of 11,811 English-language user reviews (Mostly Positive), released on Jul 1, 2025, the newest game here, and is free to play on Windows.

Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment’s always-on, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, and it is free to play on Steam for Windows since Aug 10, 2023. Its Steam page shows 41% positive of 174,796 English-language user reviews, rated Mixed, the lowest share here. This ranks it last on this one review measure only; the list does not rate its gameplay.