Free Metroid Dread Demo Out Now On Nintendo Switch, Here's How To Download It

Out of nowhere, Nintendo has announced a free demo for Metroid Dread--and it's out now. The free demo is out right now through the Nintendo eShop, or you can queue up a download from Nintendo's website.

The announcement post and related imagery have a Halloween/spooky theme, and with a name like Dread, it's certainly fitting of the spooky season. Nintendo didn't share any details on the limitations of the demo, but in any case, it's a nice option if you're curious.

GameSpot's Metroid Dread review scored the game an 8/10. "More than anything else, Metroid Dread feels like going back to a place of comfort after a long time away," reviewer Steven Petite said. "Though the gameplay is refined and new features have been added to the mix, Dread sticks closely to the formula of its predecessors. In the end, for longtime fans like myself, that's probably for the best. There's nothing to dread here. We're home again."

The game had a progression-blocker bug at launch, but Nintendo has since patched the game to fix that. It has also come to light that developer Mercury Steam does not credit everyone who worked on the game.

Looking beyond Metroid Dread, Nintendo is working on Metroid Prime 4, but unfortunately, we've heard very little about the game since it was announced in 2017.