Nintendo has cancelled the Kirby Air Riders Halloween event on Nintendo Switch 2 after the update made the game freeze mid-race. The company’s Japanese support account confirmed the decision on October 30, two days after the “Trick or Treat!” event went live.
The timing means the seasonal rewards, including ghost-themed hats, will not be available on Halloween itself. The event started on October 28 and was due to run until November 4. Nintendo says it plans to bring it back, but it has not given a date.
What went wrong with the Kirby Air Riders Halloween event
Players began reporting problems shortly after the update arrived. During races, the screen would lock up for several seconds at a time before play resumed. In a racing game, even a short stall can decide who crosses the line first.
Clips of the freezes spread quickly on social media. One Bluesky post from user TAHK0 showed the game stopping again and again during a single race, with the caption noting that Nintendo had cancelled the event “because this kept happening.”
Nintendo’s support account, @nintendo_cs, then posted the cancellation notice in Japanese. According to a machine translation published by Kotaku, the statement reads: “We have identified an issue in the currently ongoing ‘Trick or Treat!’ event, where the screen may temporarily freeze during gameplay. As a result, we have decided to cancel this event.”
Nintendo Life first spotted the announcement. So far, Nintendo has not explained what in the Halloween content caused the freezes. It also has not said why it could not patch the problem while the event stayed live.
Will the event return?
The same post includes a promise to bring the content back. “Please note that we plan to hold the event again, allowing you to obtain the associated rewards. We will provide further details as soon as they are finalized,” Nintendo wrote.
However, the statement gives no window. It does not say whether the rerun will happen in November, before the end of 2026, or later. Kotaku has asked Nintendo for clarification, and Nintendo has not yet responded publicly.
Until the Kirby Air Riders Halloween event returns, players have no way to earn the ghost hats or the other themed rewards. Nintendo has said those rewards will be part of the rerun.
A first seasonal event for Sakurai’s racer
Trick or Treat! was the first Kirby Air Riders Halloween event since the game’s release. Masahiro Sakurai, best known as the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, led development on the game. It launched on Switch 2 in November 2025 as a follow-up to Kirby Air Ride, which came out on the GameCube in 2003.
Since launch, Nintendo has kept supporting Kirby Air Riders with themed updates and in-game events. The Halloween update added fall-themed decorations alongside the unlockable rewards. Meanwhile, the cancellation means none of that content is available over Halloween weekend.
Here is where things stand now:
- The Trick or Treat! event went live on October 28 and was set to end on November 4.
- Nintendo cancelled the Kirby Air Riders Halloween event on October 30 because of screen freezes during play.
- Nintendo plans to run the event again with the same rewards, but it has not announced a date.