Nintendo Updates User Agreement: Violators Risk Switch Being Bricked

Nintendo has recently tightened its user agreement, introducing stricter terms and conditions that take a firm stance against players who hack their Switch console, run emulators, or engage in any other form of "unauthorized use." As reported by Game File, emails have been sent to players informing them of the updated "Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy." These new rules, effective from May 7, supersede all previous versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account users. According to the report, there have been approximately 100 changes made to the agreement.

Prior to May 6, the agreement stated that players were not allowed 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." However, the updated version in the U.S. significantly expands 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."

As highlighted by Nintendo Life, the terms differ in the UK, where players 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 has not clarified what "unusable" means, the language suggests that they reserve the right to "brick" your console if they believe you've violated their rules. Additionally, changes to the privacy policy now emphasize that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats "in order 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 reflect Nintendo's recent struggles with piracy and anticipation for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, set to launch on June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 began on April 24, maintaining a price of $449.99, and have been met with overwhelming demand. Nintendo has warned U.S. customers who pre-ordered from the My Nintendo Store that release date delivery is not guaranteed due to high demand. For more details, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.