Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online has two different membership options: Individual and Family. Individual is ideal for households that only contain a single Nintendo Switch, but those that have two or more will save money by opting for a Family.

A Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership costs $19.99 / £17.99 annually, though there are options to pay monthly or quarterly instead. The Family Membership, meanwhile, costs $34.99 / £31.49, which saves you about $5 / £3.50 on two Individual Memberships. Buying these with the Expansion Pack included, which offers lots more great content, is a little more:

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When you consider that up to eight Nintendo Accounts can be linked up to a Family Membership, there's huge saving potential. In fact, if eight users sign up to just one Family Membership, you'll each be paying less than $5 / £5 annually. That's terrific.

Setting up a Family Membership isn't immediately clear though, and it doesn't help that Nintendo has been pretty coy about sharing details about Nintendo Switch Online up to this point. Not to worry though, for we're going to explain exactly how it works in this guide.

Nintendo Switch Online - How to set up a Family Group

Step One - Set Up Your Nintendo Accounts

To invite someone to your family group, they need to have a Nintendo Account, so start there. To set up a Nintendo Account on your Nintendo Switch, perform the following steps:

  1. Head to the eShop by selecting the orange icon that looks like a shopping bag.
  2. Select the Switch user that you want to be the primary Nintendo Account holder.
  3. Hit 'Create Account'
  4. Fill in your email address.
  5. Open the email on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
  6. Choose to add an account for yourself, or on behalf of a child.
  7. Fill in the form and hit submit.
  8. Head back to your Switch and fill in the confirm code provided.
  9. Hit continue and choose how you'd like to handle your password.
  10. You're done!

Step Two - Invite Members To Your Family Group

You don't have to set up a family group, as the option is there for any Nintendo Account holder. Here's how to invite members to a family group in steps:

  1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device and navigate to 'Family Group'.
  2. Click 'Add Member'
  3. Click 'Invite someone to your family group'.
  4. Fill in the email address attached to the Nintendo Account that you want to add to your family group.
  5. Have the Nintendo Account holder accept the invite by heading over to their emails, clicking 'Join Family Group', and hitting 'Ok'.

Congratulations! You've successfully created a family group. Now you can choose the family membership when setting up Nintendo Switch Online.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership - How To Change The Administrator

If you want to setup a new administrator for any reason, you can do that quite simply:

  1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
  2. Click on 'Family Group'.
  3. Navigate to 'Manage Family Group'.
  4. Hit 'Change Family Group Admin'.
  5. Click 'Submit'.
  6. Navigate to your email and enter the verification code sent by Nintendo.
  7. Hit 'Submit'.
  8. Click 'Select this person' on the family group member that you want to make an administrator.
  9. Hit 'Confirm Change'.
  10. The new administrator will have to accept the change via an email Nintendo sends out.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership - How To Remove A Nintendo Account From Your Family Group

If someone is a naughty so-and-so, you can kick them from your family group fairly easily:

  1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
  2. Click on 'Family Group'.
  3. Navigate to 'Manage Family Group'.
  4. Click on 'Remove a Family Group Member'.
  5. Hit 'Select this person' on the person you want to remove.
  6. Click 'Confirm' and you're done.

Bear in mind that only an administrator can remove a family group member.

Want to learn more about how Nintendo Switch Online works? Check out our in-depth FAQ then! How do you think Nintendo's handled it all? Let us know in the comments section below.