The Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Japan are about to receive one of the biggest benefits that the service has offered to date, as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will briefly be free for those with a subscription.
According to a post on the official Japanese Nintendo website, it will be possible for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers to download and play Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for the Nintendo Switch, as in, the whole game... for free. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will be available from August 5 to August 11.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an excellent title and it's surprising that Nintendo would give it away for a week, which is more than enough time to finish the game.
As of right now, the promotion has only been announced for Japan and there is no word of a similar offer coming to Europe or North America. It's possible to download the promotional version of the game from the Japanese eShop, but there is no word on whether it will work until the day itself, nor if the game will be playable in other languages. If the promotion is locked to Japan, then the free version might only contain a single language option.
Nintendo Switch Online subscribers haven't received a great deal of value for their money, even compared to the more expensive services offered by Microsoft and Sony. The people who subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online have received the excellent Tetris 99 (which is receiving modes that don't require a subscription as paid DLC) and some thirty-year-old Nintendo Entertainment System games. It was mentioned by Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa that the positive reaction to Tetris 99 has prompted the company to look into other titles that can be offered to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, but nothing has come of this yet. It's possible that Nintendo might just offer free periods of their first-party games in lieu of new content, which is still a pretty good deal for the price of the service.
The trial period for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker begins on August 5 and ends on August 11 for Japanese subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online.