Nintendo Updates User Agreement: Violation May Result in Switch Being Bricked

Nintendo has recently tightened its user agreement, significantly revising the terms and conditions to adopt a tougher stance on players who engage in activities such as hacking their Switch console, running emulators, or any other forms of "unauthorized use." As reported by Game File, emails have been dispatched 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 all existing and new Nintendo Account users. According to Game File's analysis, there are approximately 100 changes from the previous agreement to the new one.

Prior to May 6, the agreement stipulated 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 otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law."

The updated agreement in the U.S. has significantly expanded this section, now reading:

"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 noted by Nintendo Life, the terms differ in the UK, where users 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 unauthorized use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

Although Nintendo hasn't specified what "unusable" entails, the language implies 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 highlight that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats to maintain 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 updates likely stem from Nintendo's recent challenges with piracy and the upcoming launch of the eagerly awaited Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 began on April 24, with the console priced at $449.99, and they sold out quickly. Nintendo has also issued a warning to U.S. customers who pre-ordered from the My Nintendo Store, indicating that release date delivery cannot be guaranteed due to high demand. For more information, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.