Nintendo Switch Online Makes 2025 Remaster Available for Free
Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Europe on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 can download a 2025 game, which happens to be a remaster of a 2009 game, for free. The game is free to download and play between now and November 3 for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, regardless of whether they have the Expansion Pack or not. This follows a very similar offer involving a 2023 game. After November 3, though, the only way Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will be able to access the game, an EA game, will be with a $20 purchase on the eShop. To this end, subscribers may want to pause their current game and prioritize playing this one.
Back on October 23, 2025 — almost exactly one year ago — developers PopCap Games and The Lost Pixels combined, with the help of publisher Electronic Arts, to release Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, a remaster of the 2009 classic Plants vs. Zombies. For those unfamiliar with both of these games, the original was released in 2009 by the aforementioned PopCap Games as a new IP, and it was a huge hit for EA, which owns PopCap Games. To this end, it earned a 92 on Metacritic, sold many millions of copies, and spawned a multimedia franchise that consists of two sequels, numerous spin-off games, and even two comic book series. The only thing missing is the Sony movie or Netflix TV show.
In 2025, it was remastered. This remaster is Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted. Unfortunately, it didn’t earn quite the same reception, and the peak of the series’ popularity is well in the rearview mirror. Like the original, it is a tower defense game. Unlike the original, it wasn’t a massive critical and commercial hit. To this, its Metacritic range is 73 to 76. That said, it’s very much the same game as the original. What critics ultimately had against the game is that, for a remaster almost two decades later, it didn’t improve the original experience enough. In other words, it felt too much like the original game, which is ideal for some, but for those who wanted more improvements and modernization, it fell a bit flat.
Europe Only?
Right now, this Nintendo Switch Online trial is limited to Europe, but the expectation is it will soon be live in the United States, possibly as early as today. Whatever the case, when it goes live in the United States, subscribers in this region will get a free week with the EA game just like European subscribers. On rare occasions, Europe will get a free trial and North America won’t, but this is quite uncommon. Still, right now, the North American eShop is not currently offering the same free download.
In the meantime, subscribers in North America can celebrate the recent anniversaries of two Super Mario games by downloading each for free, courtesy of their subscription.