Nintendo has recently tightened its user agreement, implementing stricter rules against players who engage in hacking their Switch consoles, using emulators, or participating in any other "unauthorized use." As reported by Game File, notifications have been sent to users about the updates to the Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy. These new terms, effective as of May 7, supersede all previous versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account holders. According to Game File, the revised agreement includes around 100 changes from the previous version.
Prior to May 6, the user agreement stated that users were not permitted to "lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law."
The updated terms in the U.S. have significantly expanded this section, now stating:
"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."
In the UK, as noted by Nintendo Life, the terms differ slightly, with users agreeing to:
"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 defined what "unusable" means precisely, the language implies that the company may reserve the right to "brick" your console if it believes you've violated its rules. Additionally, the updated privacy policy emphasizes that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats to "support a safe and family-friendly online environment and to detect violations of the Nintendo Account Agreement and other harmful or illegal interactions."
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These changes likely stem from Nintendo's recent struggles with high-profile piracy cases and the upcoming launch of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, set for June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 began on April 24, maintaining a price of $449.99, and were met with high demand. Nintendo has warned U.S. customers who pre-ordered from the My Nintendo Store that delivery on the release date is not guaranteed due to overwhelming demand. For more details, you can refer to IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.
