There is no question the brilliant-on-paper Evolve is struggling to find a consistent player-base, and thankfully 2K is addressing this, offering up a weekend of free-play starting this Friday.

The catch? Well, you have to purchase the game at the fee-play's conclusion in order to keep your progress, though presumably this is only relevant to anyone who hasn't already purchased the game. For those who have, it's a chance to try out an upcoming free adaptation of Goliath: Meteor Goliath.

Those who currently own Evolve are also encouraged to participate in the free weekend to experience Meteor Goliath and the recently released Hunt 2.0. Released on August 11, 2015, Hunt 2.0 is an update providing significant improvements to the popular Hunt mode experience with improved matchmaking, revamped leaderboards, and more. In Hunt 2.0, players can choose to play exclusively as a Monster or Hunter, while never having to join a match already in progress.

There are, obviously, caveats to retaining your progress over the weekend, the most alarming of which is that "retained progress does not include DLC characters unlocked during free weekend". Moreover, there's also no word on whether the broken up initially-released content will be packaged in or discounted, meaning more than likely this is a move to entice you to play a game that is actually very good, in its entirety, in a hope the product speaks for itself. Personally, the price of admission for the whole package is what needs to be addressed first and foremost. Here's the rest of the press release:

This coming weekend†, new players are invited to experience the wealth of content in Evolve, ranging from four playable Monsters and 18 playable Hunters across four unique classes, to five game modes and 19 maps at no cost. Following the free weekend, players can purchase the full game to retain their progress‡.

In addition to the free weekend of Evolve, Meteor Goliath, a free adaptation of the iconic Goliath Monster, will also be available permanently for all Evolve players on September 3, 2015. As Evolve’s first adaptation, Meteor Goliath features an alternate character variant that combines new looks, effects, audio and gameplay into a stunning, blue-fire wrapped package. Whereas the original Goliath excels at focusing on one Hunter at a time, Meteor Goliath spreads his attacks using increased range and residual fire damage, while showcasing the following rebalanced abilities:

• Rock Throw now travels faster and lights enemies on fire;
  
• Leap Smash has increased range and lights enemies on fire;
  
• Fire Breath has increased range and emits blue flames;
  
• Charge has a longer duration and lights enemies on fire.

For complete details on Meteor Goliath, visit the Evolve blog: right here.

This weekend, all Evolve players can experience the currently available DLC characters for free on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system§ and Windows PC. Starting at 5:01 PM AEST on September 4, 2015 all Evolve players will gain access to the playable characters included in Evolve Hunting Season 1|| and the playable Behemoth Monster for 24 hours. Starting at 5:01 PM AEST on September 5, 2015, all Evolve players will gain access to the available playable characters from Evolve Hunting Season 2# for 24 hours.

In case you missed it, here's our full Evolve review.

Watch a trailer for the free weekend embedded below.