Nintendo Switch Game Free to Download Before It’s Removed From Sale Forever

Nintendo fans on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch OLED have 24 hours left to download an exclusive game for free before it’s removed from sale forever. The game in question hails from 2021, a year that saw the likes of It Takes Two, Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2, Battlefield 2042, Resident Evil Village, Metroid Dread, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Deathloop, Returnal, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Valheim, Age of Empires IV, and The Forgotten City all release. It was a pretty underwhelming year, and as a result many games that wouldn’t have stood out in a normal year got their shine, including Pac-Man 99. While it’s time in the spotlight was brief, there was a time where it felt like most Nintendo fans were playing it when it came out on April 7 as a free Nintendo Switch Online download. And it remains free to download, but only until October 8.

We knew the game was being delisted since May 16. On August 8, the process began when paid custom themes were discontinued. Then on September 8, the Pac-Man 99 Deluxe Pack and Pac-Man 99 Mode Unlock were discontinued. This process will conclude tomorrow when the online services for the main game and the distribution of the main game and free custom themes will come an end. However, after this, users who own either of the paid DLCs can continue to enjoy CPU Battle, Blind Time Attack, and Score Attack in offline mode. Everyone else has until tomorrow to enjoy the game. 

As for the game itself, it garnered a 76 on Metacritic at release. How many players it attracted, we don’t know, but given that it was limited to Nintendo Switch Online it found it hard to maintain a robust player base over time. 

“A 99-player online Pac-Man battle royale,” reads an official blurb about the game. “40 years after the classic Pac-phenomenon rocked the gaming world, Pac-Man is back in a new 99-man battle royale. Get back in the maze and chase down the iconic ghosts. Who will be the last Pac-Man standing?”

For more Nintendo coverage — including all of the latest Switch news, all of the latest Switch rumors and leaks, and all of the latest Switch deals — click here. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think. Will you miss this Switch game when it leaves?