9.8 Million Switch Owners Have Signed Up To The Online Service And 2.8 Million Have Played Tetris 99

I only invested in this for the NES games and Special Offers, but I like what we got so far. Hope to see more...

Explains why quite a few games aren't that active whatsoever online.
For something not all that expensive, I expected a better turnout than that...

What's going on with Toad's eyes in that picture?

So there’s 7 million NSO users/owners that haven’t even tried Tetris 99?

How many of this amount is because they're literally giving it away for free to Amazon Prime subscribers? That's why I have it.

@Varelius tbh considering the total number of consoles sold, that's close to one third of the entire Switch playing population and probably not bad for the first year ever of nintendo having a paid online service.

I don't dislike the service(even enjoy aspects of it like the family membership option and how many consoles you can tie to that) but I was honestly expecting something like 2 to 6 millions users top so i'm actually surprised it's more than even my biggest estimate.

@adh56 Sounds like 7 million people to need to stop slackin' and get to stackin'

@Ludovsky @Varelius It would be interesting to see the number of subscribers to Sony's and Microsoft"s online services compared to systems sold, just as an indication on how succesful NSO is (or isn't).

One also needs to take the family subscriptions into consideration. For example I'm sharing mine with two friends, so that subscription alone is spread over three Switches.

They don't have a choice.

@AlternateButtons Take family subs into consideration. Might change the numbers, at least a little bit. Would also be good to know Sony's and Microsoft's numbers. See my comment above.

Edit: Playstation Plus subscribers are around 36,3 millions as of February 2019. http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/02/there_are_36_3_million_playstation_plus_subscribers

Edit 2: Just did a quick search. According to Forbes in 2016, Xbox One and Xbox 360 had 48 million subscribers combined.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/matthickey/2016/01/28/xbox-live-reaches-record-with-48-million-active-subscribers/amp/
A newer source (don't know the reliability of this page) says the Xbox live service has 64 million active users as of Q2 2019.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/531063/xbox-live-mau-number

Pretty good numbers overall. Don't think the NSO numbers are too shabby either.

That is less than one out of three Switch owners. And I would be it is entirely due to a lack of features and games that make use of it.

It's cheap but it really doesn't offer much. Tetris 99 and the only play for Mario Kart and Splatoon. And I guess Doom has multi-player too, right? What else?

I try to play all the games at least once, and I play my childhood favorites till completion as they come along. I really love using saved states since I'm old now. Tetris was never my thing, but I've put some hours into Dr. Mario.

Hmmm....decent numbers for a fairly lackluster albeit cheap service.

That Mario Maker 2 + 12 Month NSO Membership bundle will do a lot to increase that subscriber figure if the bundle is as cheap in the west as it is in Japan.

@subpopz According to PushSquare around 40% of the PS4 users are subscribing. Don't know about Xbox One owners, as the numbers I found seems to combine 360 and One users.

Sorry, I can't quite remember having fun with the NSO NES app... I love Nintendo but this service is just depressing.

This service is awful.

Once samsho drops I’ll pick it up. Love my portable arcade machine!

Truly a victory for arbitrary pay walls.

I'm p happy with the service in general, me and my mates split up a family account between 6 of us, so at the end of the day we're only paying like $10 NZD per year, which is cheap as chips. Tetris 99 is really fun and the NES games are a good distraction every now and then.

Still not seeing any of the special exclusive offers (besides tetris) they talked up awhile back tho?

i am not satisfied with that service ... ok just 20 bucks, but all online games i wanna play, are basically dead (worms, uno, mario tennis - in my region, thanks alot nintendo to region lock that game, monopoly, even warframe EU servers are basically dead and that game is free 2 play and does not need an nintendo online membership subscription(!) and many more ...) i even canceled my preorder for dead by daylight, because i am afraid that game is dead at launch, due to the low members. i don't wanna waste 50 bucks for a game, i "probably" could not play, because its online only. i am not interested in nes, never liked that system ... we need at least snes and a friendslist/messaging system! it sucks that you cannot even write messages to your friends or join their game inside that list. no wonder why no one wants to subscribe. even such games like trials rising are "dead". everytime i search for a playlist, with luck it sends me to a lobby with 1 or 2 other players after 4 minutes. never had a full lobby in that game. online & switch = ouch. i will keep my preorder for team sonic racing,because it does have an offline / story mode too, but i guess i will need to buy that game twice on steam or xbox, to enjoy the multiplayer. but we will see .... i wish it would be a NAT problem, but nope - my switch does have open NAT, so it is also no internet connection problem. i openend all ports ... just no one wants to play online games on switch, besides mario kart or splatoon ;P

@Agramonte
Q1 2019 Switch sell-through is up YoY, but Q1 2019 Switch shipments are down YoY presumably to sell-through unsold inventory. This isn't uncommon and happens often, but it is still a strange occurance nevertheless.

NPD says US Switch sales have been up YoY during the first 3 months of the year. Declining PS4, XBO, 3DS, NES/SNES/PS Classic sales are dragging down the rest of the market, resulting in an overall industry decline.

I'm pretty sure NSO is what killed Fast RMX multiplayer. I haven't been able to find an online game since.

@Varelius
I think that’s not bad. A lot of people won’t subscribe unless they have to for the games they’ve got. I’m signed on for PS+ probably 3 months a year max.

@Ludovsky This is a global figure. that means you need to look at that 33% globally. That shrinks the total number of players a game can have in a region very drastically.

edit: i mean active btw.

it looks like alot but it isn't. Games like mario tennis aces is barely hanging on as is, its doubles matches are nearly non existent.

Sounds like Nintendo should just make the online free again.

I'm probably not going to resubscribe. Splatoon 2 isn't that much fun for me anymore, Smash isn't fun online at all, and I could care less about NES. Even SNES since I have a mini.

Unless XCX comes out with an online component, I'm good.

I play switch daily ... And never signed up. Not even for the free account.

If they add a bunch of SNES or other games however...

I'm very happy with Nintendo Switch Online. I love playing Tetris 99, Smash and Mario Tennis online. And to me, Super Mario Maker 2 will be the killer app for NSO.

Still waiting for Nintendo to move on from the measly NES offerings and get to SNES or anything else for that matter.

@Agramonte NPD hardware sales were diwn due to PS4 and Xbox One.

Regarding your statement, the sell through was up, but shipments to retailers were down.

Which means retailers ordered enough over Q4 to civer a lot of Q1 stock.

Got it free with Amazon and I still feel ripped off.

I honestly find it hard to believe that anyone is paying for this crap.

@subpopz apparently ps4 has 36 millions. That's for a total of 80+ millions total consoles sold so far in its lifetime. So just a little over a third.

Meanwhile at 9.8 millions suscriber to Nintendo online services for a total of 32 millions console sold(apparently on par with the PS4 amount of sales at this time in its lifespan), nintendo thus is just under a third of all users subscribing.

So proportions wise, that close to one third of all users would be very close to Sony's own proportion compared to current users.

It's funny because though I own a PS4 myself I find myself quickly canceling my PS Plus account(I first got a monthly sub because I want ready yet for a year long subscription and the result was that I decided against getting it).

I always had the suspicion that online services was something mainstream users even on other consoles didn't care for much and with those to 2/3 of all ps4 players not bothering to get a online sub, it sounds like I was perhaps right. 1/3 is not shabby considering it's reccuring money but it clearly show it's not the majority even on the consoles with "better" online.

@subpopz why should they make one free?
1/3 of the userbase IS close to the proportion even on PS4's "better" online services(PS4 has lifetime ps4 sales of about 80+ millions consoles. Only roughly 30 millions users actually have a PS4 Plus subscription however, which makes Nintendo getting 1/3 of users to subscribe on NOS for the very first year on par with the competition).

All this show is that people overestimate the actual gaming population that care about online play at all in the general gaming population.

@RainbowGazelle judging that even on PS4, only 1/3 of users also end up paying for PS4 Plus, I get the feeling that people just overestimate in general how much people actually care about online play.

I've always felt people would exaggerate how much people play games online vs offline but only about 1/3 of users on both Switch and PS4(especially with the later's more established online tradition) might means my feeling on the subject(only a minority, even if a substantial one, truly even care about online at all) might be true.

@Varelius perhaps but looking away stuff the "1/3 of players" sounds like it's close to what's seen even on PS4.

Again like said, for the very first year of online service of the console on a console that's only 2 years old and without such tradition of paid online, it's not bad.

The PS4 has 80+ millions of lifetime console sales, but currently only about slightly over 30 millions people even bother to subscribe to PS Plus. It's slightly over 1/3 of users compared to nintendo's slightly under 1/3 but again considering the context(Switch being only 2 years old, first year ever of a paid online service without any tradition of such before) it's actually not a bad score for nintendo.

That might means PS4 only feels more populous because it has a higher total console population after close to 6 years of lifespan.

It might be that there was a higher proportion of online subscribers at the start when there were still less console sold(especially since early adopters might also be the dedicated population most likely to care about online) but that only 1/3 of current users bother to have a subscription even on one of the currently most "online heavy" console out there might just mean we generally overestimated the actual population that care about online at all(even if it might still remain a profitable one for Sony to keep expanding online service despite 2/3 of users don't even bother to get a sub).

@Aerona considering even the online heavy PS4 can justify paid online with only 1/3 of console owners bothering to subscribe for it, that might be less sarcasm than you think.

For a console that's only 2 years old and fir the very first year introducing paid online for a company with no tradition of such...

... i'm actually surprised they got that -many- too suscribe and not -less-.

It's close to 1/3 of all users, and thus on par(proportion wise) to the slightly 1/3 of all users who even bother to subscribe to ps plus for their playstation 4(which means close 2/3 of the lifetime 80+ millions of ps4 consoles out there... just don't even really care about online features even on the "online heavy" hardcore console. It's still 30 millions consoles who do... but again that's on a console that had 6 years now to establish itself and only slightly over 1/3 of it's total consoles).

If not for the NES games (which I admit I love being able to replay in English or Japanese AND with save states), I wouldn’t have a single instance of utilizing my membership. And this despite my being in the 95th percentile in terms of game hours this year, according to Nintendo! I’ve friended a few people but what’s the point when there’s no way to message them or join their lobbies?
Gaming should not be so %&@*#} lonely!

To make the service worthwhile, Nintendo needs to ditch the ridiculous phone app and integrate some basic online features, even if they can’t pull off voice chat.
Hopefully Mario Maker brings some kind of community-building improvements this summer.
Or else please design better functionality into pro model Switch or the next gen hardware.

@subpopz what's your source for a 45% subscription rate for PS4 owners? Everything I'm finding is closer to 1/3 around 33% - 35%.

Huh, Furukawa-san notes people are enjoying the NES Online app. I put a fair amount of time into it but that wasn't really the reason why I got the sub - I mainly got it for online play and the cloud saves.

Switch Online is okay as it is IMO, assuming the matches I play have low amounts of lag. But yeah... they gotta beef it up if they want me to keep subscribing. Let players send messages to friends, trash that useless app in favor of headsets, make more of these special offers like Tetris 99, among other stuff to make Switch Online better. I wonder how long Nintendo's gonna keep offering NSO for free, by the way... if they keep that up, they may as well have free online again, at least for their next console.

So about 25% of Switch's sold have an online subscription. That doesn't sound all that great.

Only reason I have NSO is because of prime deal, otherwise I wouldn't have it. I've hardly touched the NES offerings, but did enjoy a little bit of Tetris online. They really need to step up their game if they plan to keep me at renewal time, I won't be getting the whole deal from prime because of planning to cancel that service before 2nd part of the deal comes up.

As a few others have pointed out, when you consider the Switch user base size its almost on par with PS+ and Xbox Live Gold. Not as bad as some seem to claim

These numbers may underrepresent the online presence of players as there are some games that do not require a subscription to play online. A somewhat popular game called Fortnite comes to mind.

@Agramonte
According to Nintendo:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2019/190426_3e.pdf
The bottom of the first page shows quarterly Switch sell-through during their 2018 and 2017 fiscal years in JP/NA/EU.
There was massive growth during the last 2 quarters / 6 months. In fact, Nintendo sold nearly 3 million Switches during the last quarter in those 3 regions, which represents 35% growth YoY.

Q1 2019 global shipments were at least half a million units below Q1 2019 global sell-through. Seems like Japan got shorted the most, with Q1 2019 shipments falling to 490,000 units even though Q1 2019 sell-through landed at 950,000 units according to Media Create.

Pretty obvious that Nintendo is clearing room for the upcoming Switch revision(s).

Somewhere I read they mentioned Super Nes games coming to NSO, but I think that got deleted.

I get to play Splatoon 2 multiplayer. That's why I sub to the service and that's all I care about.

@link3710 those numbers are not included as these numbers are from the end of February not March. They also don't include free memberships which is what the twitch deal is.

@Agramonte Nintendo sold 19.4 million not 17

@Agramonte first of all I was looking at the wrong year. Second their financials you linked shows 18 million switch units sold and your figuring 16.95. either way 9 million NSO users is a good number for only being out a few months.

I enjoy the online, being able to play nes games without having to pay five bucks for each one like you had to on the wii or wii u. Also being able to play them whenever you go because they don't have to be online all the time.

@Dirty0814 They should have specified it in the article if that wasn't for the end of FY2018 like all the other information coming out these days. And the Twitch Prime ones aren't the 7 day trial membership, which is what the article specifies, they're the full paid membership being given away for free.

"He poisoned our water supply, burned our crops and delivered a plague unto our houses!"
"He did?"
"No, but are we just gonna wait around until he does?"