Nintendo Switch Online Services Will End In China In 2026

Let it Go...!
Let it Go...!
We don't need Tencent anymore...!
(Elsa singing Let it Go)

So, how much time will have passed since their beginning of operations until their closures?

So I need to hold my reaction til I finish reading the title haha, scared me for a second!

So is China banning video games again or what? They seem to do this every few years and then re-allow Nintendo/Sony & others to re-invest in their markets.

Also dumb curiosity but could this imply the new console might have a different eShop? It's already been confirmed that NSO will continue onto the next console, but who knows what form that will take exactly.

Another L coming from tencent.

@Axecon
This doesnt really tell us anything about the Switch successor eShop. The mainland China eShop is already significantly different from all the other eShops as it only has a total of ~60 software applications (including DLC and free apps), of which only 17 of those are from Nintendo.

FYI I think it took a few years after Switch WW launch to release Switch to China, so this probably means absolutely nothing about Switch 2.

So it's not a propriety decision, but a decision made by a third-party? That seems a bit harsh.
I would hope that the Switch 2 will allow online services for the People's Republic again 🫡

Good those company over there were quite shady and besides if the Chinese wanted to play Wukong/Wuxia masterpiece like Black Myth Wukong and Wandering Sword they already got the PC cafe to play those anyways as Switch had neither games on its platform.

My friend works as a teacher in China rn and he said everyone basically buys the "region-free" Switches that they import from Japan or other regions anyways, so this isn't that big of a deal for Chinese console gamers in the end.

Just buy physical.

@Axecon Different eShop on Switch 2 like for China or just the entire world in general?

Never knew Tencent was involved with Nintendo in any capacity. Be gone with it.

china love banned anything without a reason

@HammerGalladeBro
8 years, I think.
Paid Online started 2 years into Switch lifespan

There are usually other avenues of people accessing online systems, if need be.

As someone already mentioned, buy physicals (full games, not the scam ones) and they can kiss your three letters.

Tencent is in the middle of a massive divestment spree and given their stakes in all sorts of international studios, its rough to see.

@HugoGED Unfortunately many of today's physical games use an internet connection to some extent. Sometimes it's updates for harmless bug fixes, or missing dlc, or use of a download code in a physical box, or major if it requires to be always online.

@Axecon They didn't just confirm that NSO will continue on the next console but that Switch games in general will be playable on Switch 2, so full backwards compatibility including digitally.
That suggests that the eshop will continue. Of course they might update it with a new design or whatever.

Friendly reminder that there were like, what, 10 games on there! And I'm pretty sure most have gotten physical releases, of which also work on the region locked Chinese model because China is that special! (wtf...)

That's Just Too Bad.

@Axecon When has China ever "banned videogames?"

Actually banned them, not enacted laws that force MMOs and online games to cap rewards.

I feel bad for gamers in China that do things the right way. I'd non-stop pirate games too if this kind of thing was constantly being shovelled in my face for trying to do things above board. The chinese version of Steam has almost nothing on it, and the eShop was also very dire.

@BTB20 If they update the design for the Switch 2 eShop, could they also give it music and some new features (one of those being a shopping cart feature)

@MrCarlos46 I always loved how the little “blocks” were falling into the shopping bag on 3DS while downloading, and how it was “wrapped” as a gift 🎁 the software you downloaded before you could start playing.

This... wouldn't have anything to do with the protests done in Animal Crossing a few years back, would it?
Hmm, I guess I can't know that for sure.

@splatoonaddict Wonder if they’ll do something similar on Switch 2 if they update the design and interface

Prepping for WW3 most likely

This just makes me wonder when NSO/The nintendo eshop will shut down in other regions like North america and Europe .

And there lies the fragility of your entire game library being held on their servers and not your shelf at home.

@Nintendomatt64 Maybe a few years after the Switch is discontinued, but I don’t think that will happen yet

@MrCarlos46 Yeah your probably right

What to do if I have chinese nintendo?

@Nintendomatt64 It took 2 years and like 5 months after the 3DS line was discontinued (the Wii U was already discontinued by then) for Nintendo to start winding down the 3DS and Wii U’s services

Timeframe for when the Switch’s services shut down after the Switch gets discontinued could be longer, shorter, or about the same

@X68000 I've been able to play NSO games offline. They're downloaded straight to the Switch, so all you would need to do once the service ends is install a mod that tricks the apps into thinking you're still subscribed.

@axelhander Most of the games that are supposedly banned weren't even considered for an official release to begin with, largely due to the large spread of piracy there. There's a reason why most popular games there are PC, F2P MMO games, which are pretty much the only means for developers to make money.

@SearchingS The eshop wasn't banned at all. The store is closing because it's not making money due to its paltry selection of less than 100 games, with Pokemon Let's Go being released this month.

https://www.nintendoswitch.com.cn/software

The Switch itself is rather popular as an import or hacked device, and as a result most third party developers simply didn't bother to put their games on the Chinese eshop.

@batmanbud2 NSO games are part of the subscription. can play without an internet check for 1 week

All my friends in china just use a vpn to access international eshops. This will affect families with young kids that aren't so tech savy.

@splatoonaddict And you also got to unwrap it once it was done downloading

Tencent, one of the most evil companies in gaming. And they own a lot of (shares in) other companies. Ubisoft. Epic. ByteDance. And many, many more. And they have direct links to the Chinese government.

@KY502ShinyHunter for a company to sell or release anything in China that company needs to work with a Chinese company so that China is still involved in the process of the product their citizens are buying. Even if the involvement is just taking a cheque from Nintendo and putting a "we worked on this" stamp on the product.

Feels a bit like China leveraging control over their own market. China's started to see big hits such as Genshin Impact and Wukong.. now suddenly for mysterious reasons Tencent decides the system which doesn't host these games isn't going to be allowed to sell any games digitally in the country.

(or maybe Nintendo are allowed to in a legal sense but no company is going to actually host the e-shop in China for them going forward)

Well, four free Switch games is pretty generous. That’s sure better than we got for the WiiU/3DS shutdown

It's too bad they are shutting down the official ways to get Nintendo Switch games and services. Unfortunately with the Chinese government it's taken forever for them to release any games. I am pretty sure that is why a smaller text amount game like Pokemon Snap got released before let's Go Pikachu game.

With this, could it mean Nintendo is getting ready to leave China?

@sanderev

Every Chinese company has direct links to the government, that's how communism works.

@GrowingWings My point, exactly. And they have been known to add Chinese spyware to software.