Dawn of the Final Day – 12 Hours Remain –
As Nintendo had previously announced, tomorrow, September 19th, will mark the start of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which will be required for most, online games for the console, baring some exceptions (like fortnite). Nintendo has been mostly upfront about this upcoming change since the launch of the Nintendo Switch, but now the day is finally here (after being pushed back a couple times) and players will need to pay up to continue playing online games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 and ARMS. Along with the abilty to play games online, the Nintendo Switch Online subscription will also include access to a collection of NES games you’ll be able to play on your switch while your subscription is active, and cloud saves, finally giving people an option to back up their save files.
Confirmed earlier this year, there will be several different subscription options depending on how much time you’d want to pay for up front, as well as a family membership for up to 8 accounts on 1 subscription plan.
- Individual memberships:
- One month (30 days): €3.99
- Three months (90 days): €7.99
- 12 months (365 days): €19.99
- Family membership (12 months/365 days): €34.99
With a family membership, up to eight Nintendo Account holders will be able to utilise the Nintendo Switch Online service, even on different consoles.
Thankfully, the pricing model makes the change somewhat easier to adapt to since it’s considerably cheaper than Xbox Live or PS4, but you’re not getting nearly as many benefits from the subscription as you would with those other services though.
It will be interesting to see what Inkopolis looks like after the change, or if the new pay wall for online play will affect the active online population for any particular games.