Nintendo Switch Online will add the classic NES game next week

Key points

• The NES version of Tetris is coming to Nintendo Switch Online on December 12, just 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 is adding the NES version of Tetris on December 12th. This inclusion will further strengthen 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 set schedule for new releases. However, it typically introduces new titles every few months, and such additions are more plentiful around special events like anniversaries. More recently, the first two The land of Donkey Kong games arrived on Nintendo Switch Online in late November 2024, followed by Wed, Vectorman ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotronwhich have been added to the expansion pack level library.

The NES edition of Tetris is now set to follow suit next week, with Nintendo just announcing that the classic game will be added to NSO's content catalog on December 12th. This arrival may not be a surprise to the most attentive fans, as Tetris it was already confirmed to be coming to Nintendo Switch Online in late August 2024. While NSO typically adds multiple titles to its library at once, the NES version of Tetris will apparently be an exception to this pattern and debut on its own, unless Nintendo has some last minute surprises in store, which is not out of the question.

Tetris for NES just turned 35

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

More NSO games could arrive in December 2024

Based on Nintendo's release patterns, it's possible that the NES version of Tetris it won't be the last addition to the NSO library in 2024. Since its launch in 2018, NSO has steadily added more titles to its catalog each December. Even in 2023, its least eventful year, the service still received two new titles in December: 1080° snowboarding AND Harvest Moon 64.

Number of Nintendo Switch Online games added each December

Will 2024 therefore mark a new low for NSO December releases, or will it see Nintendo introduce at least one more surprise title alongside the NES version of Tetris. Looking at the slightly bigger picture, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently confirmed that the Switch 2 will support Nintendo Switch Online. Tetris it's therefore all but guaranteed to be playable on the company's next device, unless its NSO period proves unusually short-lived.