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

Nintendo has recently updated its user agreement, implementing stricter policies for players who engage in unauthorized activities such as hacking their Switch console or using emulators. As reported by Game File, emails were sent to users notifying them of the updated "Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy," effective as of May 7. This new version replaces all previous agreements and applies to both existing and new Nintendo Account users. The revised agreement contains approximately 100 changes from the previous version.

Prior to May 6, the agreement prohibited users from leasing, renting, sublicensing, publishing, copying, modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any part of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, unless otherwise permitted by law.

The updated U.S. version of the agreement now elaborately states:

"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 has a different approach, 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."

Although Nintendo has not specified what "unusable" means, the language suggests they now have the authority to potentially "brick" your console if they detect any violation of these rules. Additionally, the revised privacy policy emphasizes that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats to ensure a "safe and family-friendly online environment" and to detect any breaches of the Nintendo Account Agreement or other harmful or illegal activities.

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These changes may be in response to recent challenges faced by Nintendo, including high-profile piracy cases and the upcoming launch of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2, priced at $449.99, opened on April 24 and were met with significant demand. Nintendo has warned U.S. customers who pre-ordered through 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.