Nintendo’s Mega Multiplayer Festival offers bonuses and free trials heading into the fall

Nintendo’s Mega Multiplayer Festival kicked off Aug. 1 and the console maker is using the month to offer players several incentives to play their favorite games on the system, chief among that two free months of Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Anyone who buys a yearlong membership to Nintendo Switch Online, which is necessary to play multiplayer on the console, will get another two months tacked on to that subscription at no extra cost.

That offer is good for all levels of Nintendo Switch Online membership — standard, the Expansion Pass, plus family plans.

Later on, Nintendo will offer bonuses on Gold Points, which are a promotional currency that buyers get when they buy something from the Nintendo eShop marketplace. These points can be redeemed for discounts and other freebies on future purchases.

Beginning Aug. 5, Nintendo Switch Online members will get 20% more Gold Points on their eligible purchases in the eShop, and non-members will still see a 10% bonus. This lasts until Sept. 8.

What else is in store for the Mega Multiplayer Festival?

Later on, Nintendo will stage a “Mega Game Trials” promotion from Aug. 19 to Aug. 25 in which Nintendo Switch Online members will get the full versions of four multiplayer titles for a free run.

Nintendo has not announced what they are; our bet would be on at least the two most recent Mario sports titles (2018’s Tennis Aces and 2021’s Mario Golf: Super Rush) but that is just a guess and not confirmed. Nintendo Switch Sports also added basketball to its suite of events back at the beginning of July, so that’s a good possibility, too.

In any case, the Mega Multplayer Festival is timed to kick up interest in the Switch during what is ordinarily a dry month in video gaming overall. Things will pick back up the next month when The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which stars Zelda as the playable hero for the first time, arrives on Sept. 26.

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