Nintendo Updates User Agreement: Violators Risk Switch Being Bricked

Nintendo has made a significant update to its user agreement, reinforcing its policies against unauthorized use of the Nintendo Switch console. As first noted by Game File, registered users have begun receiving notifications that the "Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy" have been updated, with all changes effective as of May 7. These revised terms now apply to both new and existing Nintendo Account holders. According to the report from Game File, approximately 100 modifications were made in this latest revision.

Prior to May 6, users agreed not to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Nintendo Account Services without prior written consent from Nintendo, unless otherwise allowed under applicable law.

The revised U.S. version of the agreement now includes a more detailed clause:

“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 UK version of 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 hasn’t explicitly defined what it means by “unusable,” the language implies that the company reserves the right to remotely disable or 'brick' a Switch console if it detects violations of these terms. Additionally, revisions to the privacy policy now emphasize that Nintendo may monitor voice chats between Switch users “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 appear to align with Nintendo’s growing concerns around piracy, as evidenced by recent legal actions, and come just ahead of the launch of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for release on June 5.

Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 became available on April 24 at a fixed price of $449.99 — and they went about as expected. Meanwhile, Nintendo has issued an advisory to U.S. customers who pre-ordered the Switch 2 through the My Nintendo Store, noting that delivery by the official release date cannot be guaranteed due to high demand. For further details, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.