Nintendo Switch Online Services May Cost Less Than $30 a Year

Published: February 1, 2017 4:22 PM /

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nintendo switch splatoon 2

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima recently revealed to Japanese newspaper The Nikkei that the Nintendo Switch online services will cost between two and three thousand yen annually—that works out to be about $17.60–$26.55 U.S. This would make it about half the cost in comparison to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold.

Not many details about the Nintendo Switch online services have been given so far, but we do know that this yearly fee will be used for online multiplayer on the system. The other thing Nintendo has divulged so far is that those that pay for that service will also receive a free downloadable game each month from their Super Nintendo catalog, upgraded with online features. However, that free game is only available for that one month, unlike what Xbox or PlayStation offers where the games you receive free with your membership are available to play as long as you keep paying your subscription fee.

In that same talk, Kimishima revealed that Nintendo is interested in looking into Virtual Reality. He provided no details on how far along Nintendo was in their studying of VR, but did say that the problem Nintendo is looking to solve is figuring out a way for players to comfortably play VR games for hours with no issue. That seems to mean that Nintendo is waiting to see if that gets sorted or maybe they are working on it themselves.


Quick Take

I think that is a fairly reasonable price if Nintendo feels the need to jump on the bandwagon of having paid online services for the Switch. However, the less cynical side of me is thinking that maybe this will help Nintendo develop their online capability and support further, which would be great for everyone. The price here definitely makes stomaching the fact that the free game people receive each month is only available for that month easier. I am looking forward to hearing more about the plans in the future.

What do you think about the projected price for Nintendo Switch online services? Is it too much? Should there be one at all? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Andrew Otton
| Editor in Chief

Andrew is the Editor in Chief at TechRaptor. Conned into a love of gaming by Nintendo at a young age, Andrew has been chasing the dragon spawned by Super… More about Andrew