New Nintendo Switch 2 Stealth Release Is a Free Upgrade for Some

A new Nintendo Switch 2 stealth release has been dropped on the Nintendo eShop, and it is going to be free for some Switch 2 users. For those who don’t know, a stealth release is when a game releases — in this case, onto the eShop — with no prior warning. In other words, without a prior release date announcement. There was a time when stealth releases very, very rarely happened. Now, many happen each and every year. They aren’t common compared to traditional releases, but there are new ones every month, consistently. They especially happen in regard to the eShop with Nintendo Directs.

Developer SMG Studio and publisher Fictions, more specifically, have released a new Nintendo Switch 2 version of the 2025 game LEGO Party, which came out on Nintendo Switch — and every other modern platform, minus Nintendo Switch 2 — last September 30. Those who already forked over $40 for the game on Nintendo Switch will get this new Nintendo Switch 2 version for free via a free upgrade path, which follows two other free upgrade paths for a pair of Switch 2 games released last week. As Nintendo Switch 2 users will know, though, a free upgrade path is not a given. It’s not even particularly common, as plenty of developers and publishers have opted for a paid upgrade path or have opted to offer none.

One of This Generation’s Best Party Games

There aren’t many party games released any given year, so to be one of this generation’s best party games is not an incredible feat, but it’s still noteworthy. And LEGO Party certainly is one of the best party games released since late 2020. To this end, it has an 81 on Metacritic, an 87% on Steam, a 4.53/5 on PlayStation Store, and a 4/5 on Xbox Store. Meanwhile, there is no insight into how Nintendo fans have enjoyed it so far because there are no user reviews on the Nintendo eShop. Given Mario Party, LEGO Party is probably most at home on the Switch and Switch 2.

For those who do not know, LEGO Party is a four-player party game that supports both local and online multiplayer. And it’s basically a Mario Party clone that has players compete in various different and wacky “Challenge Zones” via 60 minigames and across various LEGO sets like LEGO Pirates and LEGO Ninjago. As we noted in our official review of the game, it does fall into the pitfall most games in this genre do, which is that it gets pretty competitive pretty quickly. To this end, it’s best played in small bursts and is very dependent on having the right people to play it with. In other words, it is a social game.