Nintendo has released some big details regarding the online membership program for the Switch, which includes the likes of features, pricing and more. The company has made some tweaks to how everything will work compared to what they originally teased earlier this year, and the changes will likely come as a relief to fans.
First of all, online play for the console will remain free until an undetermined point in 2018, which is a big extension from the originally announced Fall 2017 conclusion. When the service does eventually switch over to the premium model, it will be available in the following three payment tiers:
- 1 month – $4
- 3 months – $8
- 12 months – $20
This is very reasonably priced, especially when considering the prices of $60 for a year of online service with PlayStation and Xbox. It’s worth noting that those who do not wish to pay for the service will still have access to some features, such as the eShop and sharing screenshots to social media. However, you will need to pay in order to have access to online gameplay, the online lobby & voice chat app, the classic game selection and eShop deals.
The big change comes with the selection of classic games that subscribers would have access to each month, which originally drew some backlash earlier this year. Nintendo originally announced that subscribers would be getting access to just one NES or SNES game per month, and only for that month. However, they have decided to lift that limit and said the following on that decision:
“Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play. Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription.”
This is fantastic news and makes signing up for the program all the more enticing. The reasonably priced subscription for online play and the fact that you’ll be getting access to lots of classic games with no restrictions is a great deal, and will hopefully lead to early success for this new service. PlayStation and Xbox already offer a lot with their services, so it will be interesting to see how a similar service from Nintendo pans out.
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