Nintendo’s Most Popular Game Is Free This Week
Nintendo has a sweet offer that starts today. Here's what you need to know to get playing their most popular game for free.
This article is more than 2 years old
Nintendo has announced that it will offer Among Us, a highly popular online multiplayer social deduction game, free of charge to Nintendo Switch Online members for a one-week trial period, starting Wednesday, July 21st, at 10 am PT. Anyone signed up to Nintendo’s subscription service can now stab, betray, and ultimately disappoint their friends for free.
According to ComicBook.com Nintendo occasionally runs trial events like this through its Game Trial program to give its customers previews of different games. Of course, it’s more exciting this time around, based on the game in question. The manufacturer of the world’s most popular handheld console of all time is now offering a trial to one of the biggest games of the past year: Among Us. The event was announced on the Nintendo of America Twitter feed, bringing the full version of the game to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers for free for a limited time, running the trial from July 21st to July 27th at 11:59 pm PT.
Nintendo Switch Online users should be able to pre-download the game ahead of the event and have it ready to play whenever the event goes online. However, the Switch version of Among Us will also be on sale during this event, allowing those who liked the game during the trial to purchase it for 30% off from Nintendo eShop – provided you have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, of course. The subscription itself costs approximately $20 annually, though players would’ve had to subscribe anyway if they want to play Among Us with friends.
It’s worth noting that the sale extends beyond the trial dates and lasts until August 1, 2021, still taking 30% off the full price of the game, which costs only $5 in the first place. So, anyone looking to add Among Us to their gaming library, and for less money, should take advantage of the sale. Those who haven’t played the game on Nintendo Switch should give it a shot – it’s a fantastic game whose popularity attracted celebrity players who streamed their gaming sessions, including Jimmy Fallon and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Among Us is definitely not among the freshest gaming titles since it was released in 2018. However, it rose to fame in 2020, relieving some of the stress caused by the harsh realities of COVID-19 lockdowns, as it allowed players to still hang out with their friends in a virtual world. Naturally, it quickly became an alternative to endless get-togethers on social media, which admittedly weren’t as fun as playing the game. The best part about Among Us was its availability; players could seamlessly cross-play between the $5 Steam version for PC, ad-supported mobile versions for Android and iOS, and in late 2020, Nintendo Switch.
Game console owners were left out collectively until the game received a port on Nintendo Switch on December 15th, 2020, supporting the console’s TV, tabletop, and handheld modes. The game’s developer and publisher, Innersloth, aims to bring the game to last- and current-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles by the year’s end, allowing console owners to join the Among Us party and sus out the intruder in cross-platform play.
