Nintendo Switch Online will add a classic NES game next week

Key conclusions

• The NES version of Tetris will be released on Nintendo Switch Online on December 12th, a few weeks after its 35th anniversary.
• Historical trends suggest that Nintendo Switch Online could add at least one more game in December 2024.

Nintendo Switch Online adds the NES version Tetris December 12. This inclusion will further add to the ever-growing selection of classic titles that Nintendo Switch Online has to offer.

Unlike PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo's subscription service doesn't have a fixed schedule for new releases. However, it usually introduces new titles every few months, with such additions most often on special occasions such as anniversaries. Most recently, the first two Land of Donkey Kong games made their way to Nintendo Switch Online in late November 2024 and beyond Mercs, Vectorman ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotronwhich have been added to the extension pack level library.

Edition of RES Tetris is now set to follow suit next week, and Nintendo has just announced that the classic game will be added to the NSO content catalog on December 12th. This arrival may not come as a surprise to the most attentive fans, because Tetris has already been confirmed for release on Nintendo Switch Online in late August 2024. While NSO usually adds multiple titles to its library at once, the NES version Tetris will seemingly be an exception to this pattern and debut on its own – unless Nintendo pulls up some last-minute surprises, which isn't out of the question.

Tetris for the NES just turned 35 years old

Tetris coming to the Nintendo Switch Online library shortly after its 35th anniversary in North America. As with all NES titles, this upcoming addition will be available on all levels of Nintendo's subscription service. The game itself won't be the first version of a beloved classic to hit the NSO, as the Game Boy version is Tetris already available to Nintendo subscribers from February 2023.

Other NSO games may be released in December 2024

Based on Nintendo's release patterns, an NES version is possible Tetris will not be the last addition to the NSO library in 2024. Since its launch in 2018. NSO consistently adds several titles to its catalog each December. Even in the least eventful year of 2023, the service still got two new names in December: 1080° snowboard and Harvest Moon 64.

Number of Nintendo Switch Online games added every December

So either 2024 will mark a new low for December NSO releases, or Nintendo will introduce at least one more surprise title alongside the NES version Tetris. Looking at the slightly bigger picture, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently confirmed that the Switch 2 will support Nintendo Switch Online. Tetris thus, it's virtually guaranteed to be playable on the company's future devices – unless its stay at NSO turns out to be unusually short.