The subscribers to the Nintendo Switch Online service can now claim a digital copy of Mario Tennis Aces which will remain active for several days as part of the new Game Trials program. Players can continue their progress if they purchase the full game, which will be on sale until later this month.
Nintendo is running a new promotion for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers called the Game Trials program, which allows people to download games for free which remain active for up to a week. These games are treated as if the player had bought them, so it's entirely possible that they could finish them within the free time frame. The games will stay on sale for a short period of time after the free period has ended and progress can be moved over from the Game Trial version.
As of August 7, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Australia, Europe, and North America can download Mario Tennis Aces for free and it will remain active until August 13. The game will remain on sale for £33.29/$41.99 until August 20.
A similar promotion is being held in Japan, where Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can download Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It's possible to download the Game Trials version of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, but you can't play it unless you have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription on your Japanese account.
The Game Trials program could potentially be one of the best promotions for the Nintendo Switch Online service, especially as subscribers were previously only receiving Tetris 99 and some thirty-year-old Nintendo Entertainment System games. The temporary ownership of a recent first-party Nintendo title is a pretty big benefit for a twenty-dollar annual subscription, especially when the games offered by PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold are usually several years old. The only question now is whether the Game Trials program will be a regular occurrence or if the Mario Tennis Aces/Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker trials will be one-off affairs in order to gauge interest in similar promotions.