Everything You Need to Know About Nintendo Switch Online

It may have taken more than a year, but Nintendo launched its official online service in 2018. The apt-titled Nintendo Switch Online is comparable to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live in that its primary function is to grant access to online multiplayer. A subscription to the service, however, also nets you a library of select NES and SNES games. That said, Nintendo isn’t looking to fully replicate its competitors when it comes to the Switch’s online service.

Here’s everything you need to know about Nintendo Switch Online.

Further reading

Individual/Family subscription models

Nintendo Switch Online comes in two subscription types: Individual and family. An individual subscription covers one user, and a family subscription covers up to eight. A one-year individual subscription costs $20. One-month and three-month subscriptions are also available for $4 and $8, respectively. It’s obviously cost-efficient to purchase a year out of the gate.

Family subscriptions, meanwhile, cost $35 per year. To take advantage of this bulk subscription you need to be linked in a family group. You can create a family group on the Nintendo Account website. Essentially, you and seven friends can get access to all Nintendo Switch Online features for less than $5 apiece.

Both subscription types are available for purchase on the Nintendo Switch eShop. Nintendo Switch Online is accessible via the orange navigational menu when you first open the storefront.

Keep in mind that subscriptions automatically renew unless you opt-out in the eShop menu.

Nintendo Switch Online is (mostly) required for online multiplayer

Before Switch Online launched, Nintendo offered free online multiplayer for games like Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8. Now, you have to have a subscription to utilize the online features of first-party Nintendo games and most third-party games. The one major exception is Fortnite, which can be played online without a subscription.

Nintendo Online is only needed for multiplayer over the internet, however. Those without a subscription can still use the Switch’s Local Wireless Play feature between two Switch consoles, with up to three players on each console.

You need to use the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app to chat

If you want to talk to your friends while playing online games, you need the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android. Yes, it’s annoying to have to use two devices to take part in a traditional online multiplayer experience, but we don’t make the rules. Fortnite, again, is the exception to this rule, as it allows voice chat on the console itself.

Includes the power of the cloud saves

One of the biggest knocks on the Switch since launch was that there was no method for backing up your saves. If your console died, well, you were out of luck. With a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you can backup your saves to the cloud, ensuring that you won’t lose progress even if your console breaks.

Cloud saves work with most Switch games, but there are a few outliers. For instance, Pokémon Let’s Go, Splatoon 2, Dark Souls Remastered, and Dead Cells do not support cloud saves. Nintendo has said that this is to maintain competitive balance in games like Let’s Go and Splatoon 2. Nintendo doesn’t want cloud saves to disrupt competitive rankings.

Cloud saves can disappear after your subscription lapses

As a feature exclusive for Switch Online subscribers, it makes sense that cloud saves wouldn’t last forever if you cancel your subscription. Once your subscription lapses, you won’t be able to access your cloud saves. After six months, they’ll be deleted entirely.

Subscribers get access to classic NES and SNES games

One of the major perks of the Switch Online program is the free classic games. For the first year of the service, Nintendo gave subscribers a steadily growing library of NES games. Nintendo sweetened the pot at the start of year two, adding SNES games to the program.

The games included save states, too, as well as multiple display settings (4:3, Pixel Perfect, and CRT Filter). Some of these games even have multiplayer, both local and online.

Though by default you can only play these games with an internet connection, you can download them to play offline for up to seven days at a time. If your subscription lapses, you’ll lose access to these games, just like you would with PlayStation Plus and Games with Gold offerings.

Here’s the current list of 20 SNES games included with Nintendo Switch Online. Keep in mind that Nintendo plans to add more SNES games to the program in the future, but there is no set schedule for new additions to the SNES library.

Here’s the list of NES games. Nintendo added multiple NES games per month during the first year of service. Now that SNES games have arrived, however, the monthly updates are no more. Nintendo confirmed to Business Insider that more NES games will come to the program, just not on a monthly schedule. So, we’ll get them when we get them.

Tetris 99 is exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers also gain exclusive access to Tetris 99, a wild battle royale version of the classic puzzle game. If you’re a Tetris fan, playing this 99-person iteration is arguably worth the subscription price alone.

Exclusive NES and SNES wireless controllers

If you want to play the NES games with a traditional NES controller rather than the Joy-Con or Pro controller, don’t worry, Nintendo has you covered. You can buy a pair of wireless NES controllers from Nintendo’s website for $60, though, you have to be a Switch Online subscriber in order to do so.

With the arrival of Super Nintendo games, Nintendo has also begun selling a wireless SNES controller for $30. The SNES pad is exclusive to Switch Online subscribers like the aforementioned NES controllers, though, it’s been out of stock for some time. New shipments are set to arrive at an undisclosed date in February, however, at least according to Nintendo’s product listing.

Member-only offers

The SNES and NES Joy-Cons are part of Switch Online’s member-only offers. Right now, though, the only offer currently available is for exclusive Splatoon 2 in-game gear. Only annual subscribers can get the gear, and it’s purely cosmetic. Still, if you want a free jersey and some Squidkid V shoes, you should find a code in your email.

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