Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Australia and Europe are receiving a great new benefit in August, as Mario Tennis Aces will be free for one week.
Mario Tennis Aces will be available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Australia and Europe from August 7 to August 13. It's possible to download this free version from either of those eShops right now, but it won't work until the free period begins. This is the full version of the game and not a demo, which means that the player can feasibly complete the game during this period of time. The game will include all of the free DLC characters that have been added since launch and there will be an option to purchase the game after the free period has ended with a 33% discount.
The free version of Mario Tennis Aces is part of a new Nintendo promotion called Game Trials, which will allow Nintendo Switch Online subscribers to play a first-party title for free during a specified period of time. A similar promotion is happening in Japan with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, but there is currently no word of a similar promotion happening in North America.
It's possible to download the Game Trials versions of both Mario Tennis Aces and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker if you have access to the Australian/European or Japanese eShops, which is easily accomplished by creating international accounts. It remains to be seen if the games will work as advertised in other regions, or if Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will be playable in languages other than Japanese.
The Nintendo Switch Online service hasn't offered a great deal of content compared to the competition over the past year, with Tetris 99 and a selection of thirty-year-old Nintendo Entertainment System games being the only offering for a substandard online service. If the Game Trials program becomes a regular thing, then it would make the Nintendo Switch Online service well worth the money that is currently being offered. The ability to play first-party Nintendo titles in a time frame under which it's feasible to complete them is an amazing prospect and it could help make the decision to renew an annual subscription in September much easier.