Finally, the long awaited moment has arrived! Studio MekTek, in association with Smith and Tinker, INC., Virtual World Entertainment, LLC, Catalyst Game Labs, and Microsoft Games, is happy to announce the release of Mechwarrior4 Free.
Getting started is easy. Just download and install MTX, MekTek's free content delivery and updating system. Once installed, simply click the Games Available tab, select Mechwarrior4: Mercenaries and click install. The game will download and install, all within MTX, and as updates become available, MTX will help you keep your game up to date.

For more information, F.A.Q.'s, technical support, reference materials, and a list of changes and new features in the current version, head to MekTek.net
Once again, a big thanks to Microsoft Games and all of our partners for making this free release possible, and a special thanks to all of you in the community. Without our community, MekTek wouldn't be what it is today. Your continued support and financial contributions have made all of this possible.

One of the greatest features of MekPak3.1 and of Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries in general, is the ability to customize. Mechwarrior always has been about the Mechlab, especially multiplayer. The Mechlab truly distinguishes MW4 from a long list of shooters that have come out in the past 10 years. The ability to create literally thousands of configurations allows the game to continue in popularity over its lengthy life span. Since the Free Release not only comes with the original mechs and weapons of Mercenaries, but also with the Clan and IS Mech Packs and all the Mektek mechs and weapons here is what you are getting...for free.

- 105 different mechs ranging from 20 to 100 tons.
- 9 Battle Armor
- 6 Infantry
- 32 Beam Weapons
- 43 Ballistic Weapons
- 44 Missile Weapons
- 7 Electronic Components
- 3 different types of armor

And, let's not forget the ability to add Heat Sinks to help with Heat Management, upgrading the Engine to increase Speed, and the option to add armor in incremental amounts. The same Mechlab you love has only gotten better over the years. As if that wasn't enough, the Free Release comes with many improvements over the original Mercs thanks to the Mektek Mekpaks, like added security and a new kind of zone for multiplayer. That brings us to what many of you have been looking forward to most of all - the new and exciting features and improvements that have been added solely for this special release.

- Clan and IS Mech Pack mechs available in campaign
- Mektek mechs and weapons added to campaigns
- Zonematch has been replaced with MekMatch in all visible text and is the one and only mech-matching service
- 5 new MekMatch servers to host and play on! You can change servers whenever you like. Each server has a dedicated community to cater to:
 * League Server
 * New Players
 * Australia
 * Europe
 * North America

- "Connect" and "Host" default to the last server chosen

For those that will be hosting games:
- New features for dedicated servers like the ability to add a fixed number of bots to a dedicated server upon launch chosen in setup! Bot Levels can also be set. Default game length has been changed to 30 minutes instead of original 10.

Other Improvements:
- Game loads much quicker but still requires CD and deletion of Community Satire Screen (Fafnir vs. Owen)
- Original mechs, Clan and IS Mech Pack, and Mektek mechs arranged alphabetically in Mechlab list (no longer have special symbols in front of the mech name except for Battle Armors and Infantry).
- New Screenshot Folder for in-game screenshots (instead of the main Mercs installation folder where it was difficult to locate them).

Improvements on-screen:
- LTRI (Long Tom Range Indicator) added when a weapon with trajectory is installed on a mech! Torso pitch angle in degrees is also shown! Even height of mech has been calculated and accounted for in range.
- Mission and Computer Clock added as part of the UI. Mission Clock is a semi-transparent pie chart indicating how much time is left on a multiplayer map!
- Additional Chat state. Besides the in-game chat box's normal and large size you have the option of completely turning off chat (disappears). Pressing the "y" or "u" key (general chat and team chat) causes the chat box to reappear!