Nintendo adds DELTARUNE Chapter 5 as free Switch update

Nintendo said DELTARUNE Chapter 5 was added June 24 as a free update for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, extending a release model that treats the game as an ongoing platform title rather than a one-time sale.

That matters because Nintendo’s own store copy now describes Chapters 1 through 4 as available, with more planned as free updates. Toby Fox had already told players the game would cost $24.99 and that they would only need to buy it once, with later chapters added at no extra charge. Chapter 5 is the latest proof that the promise is being carried through as an active release plan, not just a launch pitch.

For Nintendo, that kind of structure changes the work behind the game. Store pages have to stay current, support messaging has to make sense across chapters, and compatibility notes have to stay clear for players who may jump in at different points. The company is also helping keep the game visible after the first sale, which matters for eShop traffic and for a title whose audience may still be building one chapter at a time.

Fox said Chapter 5 launched worldwide on June 24 at 11:00 a.m. EDT on all platforms, and he said in the trailer rollout that he avoided showing the most exciting moments so first-time players would not be spoiled. That is the marketing logic of episodic software: the campaign has to serve both existing players and newcomers without giving away the next beat.

The production timeline also shows why chapter-based free updates can stretch well beyond a normal release cycle. In a Winter 2025 newsletter, Fox said Chapter 5 progress was going excellently and that localization had begun. That means translation, QA, and content approval had to stay aligned across a long horizon, with terminology and save behavior carrying from one chapter to the next.

Nintendo had already been comfortable with this structure before Chapter 5 arrived. Its June 2025 release notice framed DELTARUNE as available on Switch 2 and Switch with Chapters 1 through 4 already out and more planned as free updates. Fox also said the Switch 2 version of Chapters 1 through 4 launched at midnight local time in each region, underscoring how the rollout had to be managed as a global, chapter-by-chapter service.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 compatibility pages also point to a broader update-driven model for older Switch titles, and the DELTARUNE store page notes that Nintendo Switch Online is required for Save Data Cloud backup. For Nintendo, keeping a game alive after launch now means more than shipping content. It means keeping the product discoverable, playable, and coherent long after the first download.