Nintendo Updates User Agreement: Violators Risk Switch Being Bricked

Nintendo has recently updated its user agreement, implementing stricter rules for players who engage in activities such as hacking their Switch console, running emulators, or any other "unauthorized use." As reported by Game File, emails have been sent to users informing them of the changes to the Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy. Effective from May 7, these new rules supersede all prior versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account users. The revised agreement contains approximately 100 changes from the previous version.

Prior to May 6, the agreement prohibited users from leasing, renting, sublicensing, publishing, copying, modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any part of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, unless permitted by law. However, the updated terms in the U.S. have been significantly expanded:

"Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

In the UK, as highlighted by Nintendo Life, the terms differ slightly, stating:

"Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE's written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

While Nintendo has not specified what "unusable" entails, the language implies that the company may have the authority to "brick" a console if it detects rule violations. Additionally, the updated privacy policy now emphasizes that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats to maintain a safe and family-friendly environment and to identify breaches of the Nintendo Account Agreement and other harmful or illegal activities.

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These changes may be a response to Nintendo's recent challenges, including high-profile piracy cases, and are timed ahead of the launch of the eagerly awaited Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 opened on April 24, with the console priced at $449.99. The pre-orders were met with overwhelming demand, as noted by and they went about as well as you'd expect. Nintendo has also cautioned U.S. customers who pre-ordered through the My Nintendo Store that delivery on the release date is not guaranteed due to high demand. For more information, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.