Konami’s classic action-adventure vampire gaming franchise Castlevania is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the studio is marking the occasion by making the mobile version of the original 1986 game free from now until 24 October 2026.
As announced via a post on Konami’s official website, the mobile port of the original NES classic is now available for free on Google Play and the App Store, with players who download the game from now until 24 October able to continue having access to it after the promotion ends.
Released in September 1986, the original Castlevania introduced players to Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter on a quest to defeat Dracula. The game laid the foundations for what would become the “Metroidvania” genre, where players would attain additional skills throughout the game, which allowed them to backtrack and open new paths for exploration.
With the franchise marking its 40th anniversary, the games in the franchise have also received deep discounts across the PlayStation Store and Steam. All this is also in preparation for the upcoming game, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, which will mark the first new entry in the series since 2014’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 when it launches on 15 October.
Developed by Evil Empire, the team behind 2025’s The Rogue Prince of Persia and the post-launch updates and DLC for 2018’s Dead Cells, the upcoming game takes place two decades after the events of 1989’s Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and follows Trevor Belmont’s daughter Rose as she ventures into the titular castle when it manifests directly in the heart of Paris. Ahead of its launch, the game is also getting a free demo on 1 October, which lets players check out its entire first chapter.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
