Tetris 99 originally launched as a free download for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Now, Nintendo has announced that a Tetris 99 physical release is currently in the works. This physical release arrives in Europe on September 20. Nintendo has yet to announce a release date for the US.
As part of the announcement, Nintendo confirmed that Tetris 99‘s physical release will come with a free 12-month subscription to Nintendo Switch Online. In addition to this, the game will also come with the CPU Battle and Marathon modes as well as the game’s Big Block DLC. The inclusion of the latter means that buyers will gain access to the Local Arena and Share Battle modes that are being added to the DLC later this year.
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Tetris 99 takes the standard Tetris experience and adds a battle royale twist to it. Players compete against 98 other players, all of whose fields are visible on screen. As with all battle royale games, players fight to be the last player standing, though in this case, it’s by continually clearing blocks instead of shooting at other players.
With this in mind, releasing it with a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online subscription makes sense considering that online play is the game’s main attraction. However, the subscription also grants players to a number of other features. One of these is a growing number of classic NES titles available to play for free.
The concept of a Tetris battle royale is a surprisingly compelling one. While Tetris 99 remains a Nintendo Switch exclusive, a similar game to is is already in the works. The Tetris Company and N3TWORK recently announced Tetris Royale for iOS and Android. What has been revealed about this game seems to indicate that it will bring a Tetris 99-like experience to mobile devices, albeit with 100 players instead of 99.
