Nintendo Warns Violators of Switch Ban in Update

Nintendo has strengthened its user agreement, introducing stricter terms of service targeting users who modify their Switch consoles, operate emulators, or engage in other "unauthorized activities."

As reported by Game File, the company has notified users via email that it has "updated the Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy." The new terms, effective May 7, replace all prior versions and apply to both new and existing Nintendo Account holders. Game File's analysis notes roughly 100 changes between the old and updated agreements.

Before May 6, users agreed to refrain from "leasing, renting, sublicensing, publishing, copying, modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, except where expressly allowed by law."

In the U.S., this section has been expanded significantly and now states:

"Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

As Nintendo Life highlights, the UK version differs slightly, requiring users to agree that:

"Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE's written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

Although Nintendo hasn't specified the exact meaning of "unusable," the language implies the company may disable ("brick") a console if it determines a user has violated its rules. Updates to the privacy policy also emphasize that Nintendo may monitor users’ online conversations "to maintain a safe, family-friendly digital atmosphere and identify breaches of the Nintendo Account Agreement or other harmful or unlawful interactions."

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These updates appear to respond to Nintendo’s ongoing challenges, including notable piracy lawsuits and the imminent launch of the much-awaited Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for June 5.

Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 opened on April 24, priced at $449.99 — and demand quickly overwhelmed supply as anticipated. Separately, Nintendo has alerted U.S. customers who pre-ordered the Switch 2 through the My Nintendo Store that guaranteed release-day delivery is not possible due to exceptional demand. See IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide for additional information.