09/26/2026
Nintendo officially makes Switch game free until September 30
Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 owners have almost a whole week to play The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for free, but there are a couple of caveats. Debuting in 2024, the side-scroller has garnered a reputation as one of the best metroidvanias of recent years, and remains a bright spot for a series that has struggled to rediscover its form.
The full Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is now being offered as a Nintendo Game Trial from Thursday, September 24 at 10:00am PT, to Wednesday, September 30 at 11:59pm PT. The full game is free to play for anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online membership. Another caveat is that, as a Game Trial, The Lost Crown is not free to keep—once the trial period ends, the free version becomes unavailable, and users must purchase the game if they want to continue their progress.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Nintendo Switch Game Trial & Discount Available Now
The silver lining to ThePrince of Persia: The Lost Crown's Game Trial being a limited time, is that it's accompanied by a very steep digital discount of 70% off. This brings the Switch version's price down from $30 to $9. The Lost Crown Complete Edition, which includes the game's Mask of Darkness expansion and a bundle of other digital bonuses (like alternate outfits), is also 70% off, coming down to $12.
Saved data from the Game Trial carries over to the full game, and the sale is live until Wednesday, October 7 at 11:59pm PT. The Lost Crown is a decently long game, with the lower end of completion time estimates coming in around 25 hours, but that may be doable in the Game Trial period. As an extra little bonus, those who play The Lost Crown Game Trial will get 100 My Nintendo Platinum Points.
The Lost Crown Is Worth a Look While It's Free
The Lost Crown was an unexpected delight, revitalizing a series that had more or less been shelved for over a decade (a couple mobile games and a VR title notwithstanding). It's not exactly the classic Prince of Persia experience, but the series proved to fit the metroidvania genre quite well, and The Lost Crown is incredibly well done, from its narrative to its combat.
It was followed in 2025 by The Rogue Prince of Persia, another genre departure for the series—a roguelike—and together they stand as the beginning of a tenuous new era. Ubisoft's The Sands of Time remake was canceled earlier this year, and new PoP projects have yet to be announced, so its future remains up in the air.
The Lost Crown runs very well at 60 frames per second on the Switch, but has not received an update for the Switch 2, so it may unfortunately be a little blurry on the newer system. Nintendo putting the full game into the trial means anyone with some time on their hands may be able to beat Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown while it's free, but it's definitely worth trying out regardless.
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