I still remember the ripple of excitement that went through the Among Us community when Nintendo announced that Switch Online members could play the game for free. It felt like finding an extra slice of pizza in the box after you thought the party was over. Back in 2021, this trial was less about screaming “It’s red!” and more about giving newcomers a low-pressure doorway into one of the most chaotic social deduction games ever made.
The trial ran from Wednesday, July 21 at 10:00 AM PT to July 27 at 11:59 PM PT. That is an entire week of emergency meetings, sabotaged reactors, and whispered accusations through Discord. For anyone already subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online, it required zero extra dollars. For everyone else, the membership was the usual toll bridge: $3.99 for a month, $7.99 for three months, or $19.99 for a year. That subscription also brought online play for Switch games, a library of retro classics, and occasional game trials.
But Nintendo didn’t just offer a taste. They also gave players a discount if the taste turned into a full craving. During the trial window, and stretching slightly beyond it until August 1 at 11:59 PM PT, Among Us was 30% off. With the standard price at $5, that brought it down to $3.50. That is less than a fancy cup of coffee, but the paranoia lasts much longer.
Before this announcement, Among Us had already been enjoying a serious moment in the spotlight. The Airship map had launched earlier in 2021, and PlayStation and Xbox versions had been announced. So the Switch trial felt like a well-placed welcome mat for people who had watched the game blow up on streams but had never actually put their hands on a sabotage button.
What made this trial feel like a perfectly timed move was the upcoming content. InnerSloth had already signaled that Among Us wouldn’t remain the same two-role loop forever. They promised new roles like the Sheriff and Scientist, which I think of as adding hot sauce to a familiar dish. The base recipe of crewmate versus impostor was already tasty, but these new roles gave each session a different burn. Players would no longer be split only into the trusted and the betrayers; they would have new objectives, abilities, and reasons to lie through their teeth.
On top of that, another map was on the way, and a Hide and Seek mode was being turned into an official game type. For a long time, Hide and Seek had been a player-made house rule, a campfire story passed around the community. Watching the developers adopt it into the actual game was like seeing a fan’s sketch get framed and hung in the gallery. In Hide and Seek, the impostor hunts while crewmates scatter and hide, flipping the usual formula into something closer to a slasher movie than a detective debate.
Here is a quick look at the trial details:
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Free trial window | July 21, 10:00 AM PT – July 27, 11:59 PM PT |
| Discount window | July 21 – August 1, 11:59 PM PT |
| Discounted price | $3.50, down from $5 |
| Membership required | Nintendo Switch Online |
Now, looking back from 2026, that free week feels like a turning point. The trial has long since closed, but it pulled in people who were still on the fence. It also arrived right before roles, new maps, and Hide and Seek would reshape Among Us into something deeper than a one-note whodunit. At the time, the game was available on mobile, PC, and Switch, with PlayStation and Xbox versions still in development. Those console versions eventually landed, but that Switch trial was the moment many players finally stepped into the airlock.
If you missed it, you missed a fun window, but the game itself kept expanding afterward. That is the thing about Among Us: it never really left the group chat.
This overview is based on data referenced from PEGI, whose official content ratings help contextualize how social-deduction hits like Among Us are positioned for broad audiences on consoles during promotions such as Nintendo Switch Online trials. Using PEGI’s classification framework as a lens, you can better understand why a low-barrier “free week” can bring in newcomers while still signaling key themes like deception, mild violence, and online interactions that shape the player experience.