Nintendo's Switch Online Service Now Has More Than 26 Million Subscribers

"Our consumer base has quickly adopted this service"

Well you didn't give us much choice in the matter...

26 million people. 20$ a year.

520,000,000$ for putting things that should be free in the first place, packaged with a couple decade old games. Seems fair.

@Kalmaro True that, especially when it comes to games that PRIMARILY require online play... *cough Splatoon 2.

I am not one of them. And honesty do not see reason why ya'll are paying.

What is your top reason for paying?

@msvt My brother is on another continent, so if we game together / co-op NSO is required.

Plus, we're under a family sub so it's even less per head.

TBH, got more than my money's worth just playing through Joe & Mac 2 with NSO. Thought I would love additional consoles (GB/A, DS [in TATE?], N64, etc), the only thing I desperately wish they would improve for NSO is the voice chat. It's an insane setup.Everything else is gravy.

Still curious if this is unique accounts or people. Im on a family plan with friends 6 of us share the sub.

@msvt Online for splatoon, animal crossing, pokemon sword, ssbu, dbfz, ya you going need it if you want to play online

Here's to hoping that the increased subscriber base encourages Nintendo to bring some more features to the service.

My first choice would be a selection of Game Boy and GBA games. Pokemon, Mario, Tetris, Advance Wars and Fire Emblem.

A person can dream, can't they?

25,999,950 users satisfied with the service and 50 Nintendo Life commenters (that's us baby!!)

While the online is ***** and should be free, there is no way someone can complain about the value you get out of the free NES/SNES games, almost 100 at this point, even if you only like some, it is still cheaper than buying them on Virtual Console, though, not "owning" them is always a bummer.

@msvt Because we like playing online games. That's obviously surely? Mostly Splatoon 2, Tetris 99 and Warface for me at the moment with Animal Crossing, Smash Bros, Mario Kart and Ultra Street Fighter 2 once in a while. Looking forward to Rocket League once it goes free to play and Mario 35.

And of course all the NES and SNES games are a fantastic bonus too.

Why would you NOT want all that for such a low price?

I love Tetris, old video games and playing Doom online, so for me it's well worth it.

@Charinzardon "While the online is ***** and should be free"

Is it? Are you sure it's not your internet connection that's "*****" because I've had no problems whatsoever apart from in Smash once in a blue moon. 🤔 Why should it be free? Nintendo isn't a charity and it barely costs anything, just a small yearly fee of £30 I think in my country.

I do dislike the lack of proper voice chat (from your TV, not a phone) though.

@msvt

Classic libraries and Tetris 99 as well as Mario 35 are quite enough for me to pay up the twenty pops a year.

If you zoom in real close on the chart to a month ago, you can see a slight dip - that's me unsubscribing

@Varkster,

How dare you make the insane suggestion that it's only the internet forum minorities that are unhappy with the online service.

@Kalmaro,

Well they did, unless you are suggesting Nintendo came to peoples homes and put a gun to their heads, there is always a choice of not subscribing and playing offline.

@Heavyarms55
I'm fairly confident any of the old Pokemon games will be sold as standalone eShop titles (much like how they are sold on the 3DS) if they are ever ported to Switch in the first place.

It's not great but it is getting better. Tetris 99 saved the service and they keep adding more (slowly).

@johnvboy Unless, of course, you want to be able to play with other people online.

In which case, they gave you no choice. It kinda sounds like you're arguing for argument's sake, I'm sure you know what I meant.

@Kalmaro,

I know exactly what you meant, but you and others seem to forget Nintendo have given their online parts of their games for free in the past, this could not go on forever.

For a family membership it's only $2.91 per month for up to five people, for that you get online play, cloud saves, and has tonnes of retro NES and SNES games, how people can think this is poor value is beyond me.

But of course Nintendo has always offered stuff for free in the past, so they should always offer it for free, but wait a second they have never given their retro games for free.

Still garbage years later sadly.
I don't expect any major improvements anytime soon.

This is a service that was only renewed because it was on automatic.
This year I won't renew it and until it gets seriously better I'm out of it.

@Apportal in fairness, the 8 of us only pay £32 a year. So it's more like £4 a year per sub. If anyone is paying the £18, they are getting ripped off.

Biggest scam going.

Nintendo Online could be the best service ever but it's easily one of the worst.

I've had my gripes with plenty of Nintendo's business decisions, but I honestly have no problem paying $20/year for Nintendo Switch Online at this point. That basically gives you their entire lineup of first-party SNES games for the price of 4 of them on Wii U, or to put it in another perspective, like one-fourth the price of an SNES Mini. (Correct me if I'm wrong--those did cost around $80 at launch, right?) And you have the added benefit of being able to play them online or on the go. I know you have to pay that 20 dollars annually, but if Nintendo keeps growing the service and maybe gets N64 games on there, that's gonna be even more of a steal.

When it was only NES games, the price was kinda sucky, but even then I would have probably bought Mario 3, Kirby's Adventure, and a few others by themselves anyways, which would have been more expensive. I understand if your complaint is that we shouldn't have to pay for incredibly lackluster online performance... but purely as a means to play retro games on modern hardware legitimately, I personally think it's quite a bargain.

Now to sit back and get accused of being a corporate shill fanboy after already getting accused of being a whiny ingrate for disliking Origami King.

Nintendo Online is so cheap that i just pay for it permanently.
Mario Kart 8 is about the only game i play online on it.

I have subscribed off and on and I'm about to resubscribe again. Mostly for Mario Kart so I can smoke fools online, but I'm curious to play the SNES Online as well since they've apparently added Mario All Stars.

I mean, I share my subscription with my friends on the family plan so I really only pay £4 a year which is really very little.
I have very little to complain about.

@msvt My reason for paying what is essentially one coffee a month is that I like playing some of the online games that are on offer. I have spent a lovely time in Asphalt 9, I dabble in Spellbreak from time to time, and my kids obviously can't stay away from Fortnite.

The NES and SNES games are just an added bonus and again... It's 20 bucks a year... That is nothing.

And sure, they are making a killer profit off it, I am sure. There is no way that it costs them that much to keep the infrastructure running, but sheesh, let them. Any profit they make can be put to good use.

EDIT: I feel like I sounded a bit grumpy, that was not aimed at you, msvt.

An it’s lackluster

I had mixed feelings till I actually started playing the SNES app. Now I am a few hours into Breath of Fire and would have paid $15 for that game alone. So I am all good. Especially considering that I play Overwatch basically every day since over one year.
And adding Mario Picross in a few days also doesn't hurt.

What would REALLY make the service unique would be translated versions of the Fire Emblem and SMT games from the japanese NSO version.

Yes it’s cheap as peanuts but you get peanuts

@msvt initially i got it to try tetris 99 then i kept it to play games online

People crying about $20,- a year.
That’s $1,66 a month.
U guys are salty

@Reaktor
Hey you can send me $20 a year if it's no big deal to you.

@Daniel36 im fairly sure you don't need NSO for any of those games buddy. Fortnite and Asphalt Legends for sure, not sure about Spellbreak. The free to play games don't need the membership on the Switch.

I only use it for cloudsaves. It probably should be free, but I'm not really bothered paying €20 a year for it either.

Still not worth subscribing yet; the constant lag, no instant messaging of friends and a sheer lack of dedicated content on the service makes it all a waste of money. NSO has potential to be great but as it stands now, it’s absolute rubbish.

Still not subscribing. The occasional 7 day trials are good enough for me. I've been sitting on my Tetris 99 NSO code for over a year now and I still don't think it's acceptable value.

If you're paying 1/8th as per the family plan, then sure, the price is reasonable, but AU$30 for what was previously mostly free is hilarious. Nintendo is swimming in cash for doing practically nothing and 26 million people are rewarding them. Amazing. (Though I daresay that those numbers are artificially inflated in order to paint the "service" more favourably).

@MarzipanD Asphalt 9 requires it. You are right about Fortnite though. Ahh well, I am sure there will be more games I would like to play online, plus I enjoy visiting friends sometimes in Animal Crossing.

Ahh, the Splatoon tax. Worst thing to happen to gaming was the rise of paying for online. Damn you, Microsoft.

Yet they still can't afford to give subscribers exclusive discounts on everything, or do something with the retro game "service"
Like they're making that much from this but are scared of uploading roms of 20-40 year old games
Alright

@Daniel36 must have changed Asphalt 9 as I never had NSO when it released.

I picked up family membership and don't regret it all. Between SNES and nes games, and playing Tetris 99 ... Easily got my money worth. Now the kids play Splatoon online, get Mario maker courses and play Minecraft. All for about $3aud per month. And I have given free access to a free others ...

As long as the price doesn't start increasing, I'm good with this.

And is the subscriber number "accounts" or "users"? We have 1 account, but 5 users...

that's over 100 milion dollars per month .......they should be releasing games per day geeez

I've only adopted it so I can play mk8 online. And it still doesnt feel worth it.

So that's 36 million/ 58% that don't subscribe at all.
Hardly a resounding uptake of the service is it?

@HollowSpectre
That was the only reason I had a subscription for a while but I've started playing MK7 again now.

@6thHorizon,

Depends on the demographic, the more casual Switch owners will probably not play online, plus you are not taking into account the number of households that will own multiple Switch consoles, I very much doubt the 62 million or so Switch console sales are all to individual people.

@Daniel36
I was playing Asphalt 9 the other day without it.
Some of the best multiplayer games don't need it at all; Warface, Rocket League (From Friday), World of Tanks etc

@johnvboy
Yes true, that will account for some of them.
Still seems like a low uptake to me.

At least its a third of PS PLUS. I hate paying for that.

"Subscribers" or suckers?

@msvt for me personally, playing the old games is the draw. I'm a 90s kid who was raised on Playstation and Dreamcast so getting to play SNES and NES games I missed out on is wicked. I rarely play online but do occasionally dabble in Splatoon 2, Paladins and Mario Kart.

I'm in a family membership with friends so it's less than 10 bucks a year for me which is basically nothing. I think that the online experience compared to previous systems hasn't improved at all even though they charge for it now which is very questionable. However, the perks for having a NSO are worth it for me. Tetris 99 is one of my most played games on the Switch, I saved a lot of money via the voucher system and the SNES games offered are worth it alone for me. Could it be better? Sure, but when I compare it to PS+ which I was subscribed to previously, I'll take NSO over it any day.

@Apportal I’d rather have the old games for $20 a year and online than just online and have to rebiy the old games again.

So 20% are using Family NSO = Not paying.
Quote from Q & A: "As of September 2020, some 20% of the over 26 million Nintendo Switch Online paid memberships are accounts for users who belong to the service through a Family Membership (and therefore do not pay individual subscription fees)."
The only reason I need to (or precisely, FORCED to) use NSO is to backup my save data, hate it so much.

Hmm... I was certain Asphalt 9 was NSO only. Or maybe I am confusing it with a Nintendo account, since my kids' profiles aren't tied to an account yet.

Online Play and the NES and SNES titles make it a good deal in my opinion.

As a non online multiplayer gamer, only the classic games would draw me back in and so far, there isn’t much that would entice me as I’ve played all the ones I like. Hopefully more make their way; though I’d still prefer buying them outright.

Which reminds me, need to fire up the Wii U and buy another 1/2 VC games this month.

I can't say I'm completely happy about the service (Smash has too much lag), but at this price, and with dozens of classic games bundled in, it's certainly not worth moaning about.

Really not good bang for your buck, and I really dont like how you are forced to pay for some old games I dont play, just to get the full 2020 gaming experience. And its not like the nintendo online app isnt just hilariously bad compared to other similar services...

About 15 million are from Mariokart Tour smartphone

@msvt I enjoy Tetris 99 and playing some games on the service: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Overwatch, Splatoon 2 and Animal Crossing NH. The Cloud Save, plus the NES and SNES portion of the service has been excellent for me as well.

Do I wish the Switch Online service was deeper like Xbox Live at least? A little bit, but Nintendo has never done a paid service and are just milling around in the weeds. In a couple of years, I think we'll see a better service. Also, a price increase with the improvement (maybe?).

@msvt Cloud saves. If I could make my own saves and slap them on Google Drive, I'd drop this service ASAP.

@johnvboy How does that change anything I said?

Nintendo did not give us a choice in the matter when it comes to online gaming. I didn't say they shouldn't do it or anything like that. You're going after a strawman

@msvt NES and SNES games. I have an NES and SNES mini, but I love having these games on the go. Makes downtime/lunch at work a relaxing time, as well as great for vacations.

@Kalmaro,

Don't bring the old "Strawman" argument into it, you are better than that, I am simply stating nobody is being forced into anything, and the whole online service is good value imho.

Why not look at it from a point of view that Nintendo has been very generous over the years giving us online gaming for free, I never saw many people complaining about that, now if they feel they need to charge it's hardly the end of the world.

An we do have a very simple choice, I do not see why you are arguing that point, no issues with you or others not liking the service, but you can decide to subscribe or not.

@Clyde_Radcliffe ''Why should it be free?'' Because Smash is p2p? There are no servers, stop defending this. I play all my games online for free on PC.

Pay the $30 a year for the family plan and added a few friends. Get to play and relive the classics and have enjoyed playing All stars with some friends. I've been using this service more recently, more than when I initially signed up.

I would thought they has more NSO users than that.

Just add EarthBound guys

THANK YOU everyone that replied to my question about what you use this service for,

I own TONS of virtual console for Wii and Wii U and have a decent backlog of physical consoles and software for previous generations.

Smash online has always had lag. I go over Splatoon and Mario Kart online in the Wii U era... Tetris, I prefer the Puyo Vs Tetris mix...

I'll keep my eye on this but not sure that I am their target for online right now....still

I subscribe only for the NES/SNES catalogue and am super happy with the price

@johnvboy "Nintendo have given their online parts of their games for free in the past, this could not go on forever."

That's what I'm talking about, I never said it was good or bad that Nintendo did this. I didn't hint that it was unreasonable that they charged money, that's a completely different argument.

"Why not look at it from a point of view that Nintendo has been very generous over the years"

I didn't say they weren't generous in the past.

no issues with you or others not liking the service

Again, I never said I didn't like the service.

My point was just that people signed up because they had to if they wanted to play with people online. This is why I said you were hitting a strawman.

@Kalmaro,

Sorry for the misunderstanding, people on here do seem to think the service has little value, which I personally disagree with.

I do see your point that if you want to ply online you have to subscribe, but it's still a choice, and it's no different to any of the other big players, but you still have a point.

@johnvboy It's fine, I actually like the service since it's so cheap and you get a lot of games and junk you can play.

I just found it funny they bragged about people signing up when you kinda had to if you wanted to play online, lol.

@Kalmaro,

I remember getting Star Wars battlefront for the Xbox one, and it was a total waste of time if you were not online.

@Daniel36

Grumpy or not (we're all in this for fun, so it was not taken that way), thanks I was (and am) curious. I posted to everyone regarding my reasons, and the answers though interesting just show we all have different uses. for me, it is doesn't hold value right now since I own a nice collection and backlog of many of those very games.

@Apportal More than decade old. Many of these came out upwards of 20 years ago!

@msvt Super Mario Maker 2, Tetris 99, Mario Kart, and soon Mario 35 but I also like the SNES and NES games too. And I love that it's only 1/3rd the price of a PS+ membership; I shouldn't have had to pay $120 just play On-Rush for 2 years, in comparison $20 a year to play Nintendo games online is cheap as hell.

@msvt cloud saves and retro libs share the top spot, followed by stuff like Tetris 99. Online itself ironically comes last - I barely play online outside the freemiums where it's free in the first place (and even there, I stick to as much solo content as I can manage).

@Reaktor Right? It's like a bottle of soda from the convenience store. or gas station. Not even a 2 liter, just one meant for one person.

@westman98 I'd be completely okay with that. I've been saying for literally years now that I do not care if it's via NSO, or Virtual Console style or as collection releases like Mario 3D All Stars.

I just want those classic titles to come to Switch. The Switch is the ultimate platform for me, I love it so freaking much! I want everything here. I've played games for about 25 years now. Since I was 2 or 3 years old. I've played everything from the NES era to the modern day, and Switch is hands down my all time favorite system.

Over 26,000,000 people signed up for NSO, what basically boils down to a paywall, and yet, they can't even be bothered to add dedicated servers or even open up all games to cloud saves (And no, Nintendo, your little "savescumming" boogeyman doesn't exist, get over it already!).

Hmmmmmm... Really makes you think.

I wish the value proposition was better, but it's worth it for me for Tetris 99, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and the retro games

@Clyde_Radcliffe The connection of some games are bad, the reason why it should be free is because, well, it was free until the Wii U and even in the beginning of the Switch life, they only charge for it because people will pay, for the lack of choice.

These statistics are misleading considering they gave away yearly subs with games to fudge the numbers and hide the low take up. I got two years of subs free with games I bought.

To be honest the value isn't that bad and I have probably got more than £20 with just the SNES/nes games and Tetris online. But I stand by the fact that online multiplayer should be free for everyone.

@Clyde_Radcliffe its proper common knowledge that in smash if someone else with bad connection joins you theyll lag everyone else out, secondly doesnt smash use p2p? Doesnt use dedicated afaik

Because you won’t let us back up our games otherwise.