Metroid Dread has a bug that’s causing the game to simply shut down – thankfully Nintendo has a workaround, and a patch will arrive by the end of the month.

Announced on Twitter (below), Nintendo apologised for the bug, explained the cause, and how to avoid it. The bug itself sees the game closing down with the message “The software was closed because an error occurred,” when a door near the end of the game is destroyed.

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In a support page, Nintendo explains that the error is caused by destroying the door when a map marker has been attached to it. The solution is simple enough – remove the map marker before you destroy the door and things will progress as expected.

Nintendo’s promised that the bug itself will be squashed in a patch coming later this month. It’s not clear if that update will include any other changes for the game.

The bug is a less exciting discovery than the secret boss killing method found by determined sequence breakers. Bug or no bug, Metroid Dread is delighting players with its classic 2D exploration – we gave it a 9/10 review, saying that it “brings back the legendary exploration and progression and merges it with excellent modern combat and some of the best boss fights ever.”

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.