Konami’s Castlevania 40th anniversary promotion makes the original game free on iOS and Android for a limited time, alongside major PlayStation and Steam discounts for players catching up on the series.
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Konami’s anniversary gift is free, but the clock is already running
Konami is marking Castlevania’s 40th anniversary by making the original Castlevania free on mobile for a limited time, creating a useful but easy-to-miss window for anyone who wants to own the series’ starting point. Video Games Chronicle reports that the app, listed as Castlevania 40th Anniversary, is available now on the iOS App Store and Google Play, and will remain available only until October 24 before being delisted from those stores.
That deadline is the key detail. According to VGC, players who claim the app before October 24 will be able to keep playing it after the promotion ends. Inven Global, citing Konami’s announcement, similarly reports that players who download the smartphone port during the promotion will still be able to redownload and play it after the free period ends. In other words, this is a claim-now situation rather than a permanent free-to-download release.
The timing lines up with the series milestone. VGC notes that the original Castlevania was released for the Famicom Disk System on September 26, 1986, which makes the anniversary campaign a return to the exact game that established Simon Belmont’s first climb through Dracula’s castle.
How to claim Castlevania 40th Anniversary on iOS and Android
To claim the Castlevania free game, search for Castlevania 40th Anniversary on the iOS App Store or Google Play, or use the store links shared by Konami and reported by VGC, Push Square, Inven Global, and Shacknews. The supported platforms named across the reports are iOS and Android. No console version of this free mobile app has been announced in the provided source material.
Push Square reports that this mobile version is free in its entirety, with no ads and no in-app purchases. The same outlet says the app can be played offline and takes up around 6MB of storage space. Console Creatures also describes the release as an enhanced port of the NES title with touchpad support and offline play.
For practical purposes, the safest move is to download the app before October 24 rather than wait until the final day. VGC says the app will be delisted after the promotion, while Shacknews reports that it will remain available until the end of the day on October 24 in Japan. Those two details point to the same limited-time shape, but they also make the exact cutoff worth treating cautiously if you are outside Japan or checking regional storefronts.
This is the original Castlevania, with mobile compromises
The free app is built around the original Castlevania rather than a remake or a modern collection. Inven Global describes Castlevania as a side-scrolling action-adventure game starring Simon Belmont, who braves monsters and traps across 18 stages in Dracula’s castle to defeat Dracula. Inven also credits the game with establishing core series systems such as whip combat and sub-weapons, alongside gothic horror visuals and sound that stood out at the time.
The mobile version preserves that old-school structure, but the interface matters. Inven reports that the smartphone port centers the game screen in its original aspect ratio, with side and bottom margins containing virtual controllers mapped to classic Famicom buttons. Shacknews, looking at the App Store and Google Play screenshots, cautions that the virtual controller interface appears fairly large and could make the playable image smaller than some players might like.
That is the tradeoff of this Castlevania mobile free release. It is the easiest current way to grab the first game at no cost, and offline play makes it convenient for quick sessions, but classic Castlevania was designed around precise movement, deliberate jumps, and committed attacks. Touch controls can change the feel of that craft, especially in a game known for demanding platforming and enemy placement. If you want the historical artifact, claim it. If you want the most comfortable way to play on a larger screen, Konami’s sale is the better place to look.
Konami’s retro sale gives latecomers a cleaner catch-up route
Alongside the free mobile app, Konami has launched a Castlevania anniversary sale on PlayStation and Steam, according to VGC. The sale is especially useful because Castlevania’s history is spread across several eras: the strict action-platforming of the earliest games, the exploration-heavy entries that shaped the Metroidvania vocabulary, and the later 3D action games.
On PlayStation Store, VGC reports that the sale runs until October 7. The discounted titles are Castlevania Anniversary Collection at 80 percent off, Castlevania Dominus Collection at 50 percent off, Castlevania Advance Collection at 70 percent off, and Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood at 70 percent off.
On Steam, VGC reports that the sale runs until October 1. The PC discounts include Castlevania Anniversary Collection at 80 percent off, Castlevania Dominus Collection at 50 percent off, and Castlevania Advance Collection at 70 percent off. Steam also includes several Lords of Shadow releases at 80 percent off: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Ultimate Edition, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Digital Bundle, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Revelations DLC, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD.
The available source material does not list equivalent anniversary sale dates for Xbox or Nintendo Switch. That does not prove those platforms are excluded from every regional promotion, but the confirmed discount information here is limited to PlayStation Store and Steam.
Where to start if the free app is your first Castlevania
The smartest route depends on what kind of Castlevania you want. The free mobile app is the obvious first claim because it costs nothing and, according to VGC and Inven, remains playable after the delisting if you download it during the promotion. It is also historically clean: this is the game that introduced the Belmont-versus-Dracula premise in a compact, punishing action format.
If you enjoy that direct stage-based design but want to play beyond a phone screen, Castlevania Anniversary Collection is the sale item to examine first. VGC reports that it is discounted by 80 percent on both PlayStation Store and Steam. The provided sources do not list its full contents, so the confirmed point is the discount rather than a contents breakdown, but it is positioned by the sale as the most direct companion to the free original.
For players who arrived through modern Metroidvanias, the better sale targets may be Castlevania Advance Collection, Dominus Collection, or Requiem. VGC confirms heavy discounts on all three across PlayStation and Steam, except Requiem is only listed in the provided PlayStation sale details. Requiem’s title specifically includes Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, two names that explain why this sale is bigger than a nostalgia coupon: it gives newer players a cheaper route into the branches of the series that still influence how action-platformers pace exploration, risk, boss design, and character progression.
Steam players also have a wider confirmed sale spread if they want to investigate the 3D period. VGC’s Steam list includes the Lords of Shadow games and related DLC at 80 percent off. Push Square notes that some fans have interpreted Konami’s anniversary trailer as hinting at a possible compilation involving 3D-era games such as Lords of Shadow, but Push Square’s own editor framed that as fan speculation and said he personally thinks the trailer is simply celebrating the series as a whole. No new 3D compilation is confirmed in the provided source material.
The anniversary push is also setting up what comes next
Konami’s campaign is not limited to the free app and discounts. Console Creatures reports that Konami has a 40th anniversary website and that a Castlevania 40th Anniversary Orchestral Concert is planned for Tokyo, London, and Los Angeles in spring 2027. SavePoint Gaming also summarizes the anniversary push as including soundtrack streaming and orchestral concerts, though the detailed concert cities in the provided material come from Console Creatures.
There is also a new Castlevania release on the near horizon. VGC reports that Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is set for release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on October 15, with a demo planned for October 1. According to VGC, players will be able to copy their demo save file into the full game. VGC’s hands-on preview said the game did not appear to revolutionize the Metroidvania genre in a major way, but found it engaging to play during the first hour.
That gives the anniversary sale a practical role. Anyone curious about Belmont’s Curse can use the free original as a zero-cost historical sample, then use the PlayStation or Steam discounts to fill in whichever era they missed. The only urgent action is the mobile claim. The Castlevania anniversary sale has its own shorter deadlines, October 1 on Steam and October 7 on PlayStation according to VGC, while the Castlevania 40th Anniversary app disappears from storefronts after October 24. For a series built on careful timing, Konami has given players one more clock to watch.