Nintendo has recently revised its user agreement, taking a tougher stance on players who engage in hacking their Switch console, running emulators, or any other form of "unauthorized use." As reported by Game File, emails have been sent to players informing them of the update to the Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy. These new rules, effective as of May 7, supersede all previous versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account users. According to Game File, approximately 100 changes have been made between the old and new agreements.
Prior to May 6, the agreement stated that users 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 permitted by applicable law. However, the updated agreement in the U.S. has significantly expanded this section:
"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 highlighted by Nintendo Life, the agreement differs slightly, stating:
"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."
While Nintendo has not clarified what "unusable" means, the wording suggests that the company now reserves the right to "brick" your console if it believes you've violated its rules. Additionally, changes to the privacy policy emphasize that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats to ensure a safe and family-friendly 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 frustrations with high-profile piracy cases, as well as the upcoming launch of the highly-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, set to debut on June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 went live on April 24, with the price set at $449.99, and they sold out quickly. Nintendo has also 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 information, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.
