Nintendo Updates User Agreement: Violators Risk Switch Being Bricked

Nintendo has recently tightened its user agreement, introducing stricter rules on players who engage in unauthorized activities such as hacking their Switch console or using emulators. As reported by Game File, emails have been sent to users informing them of the updated "Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy." These new terms, effective from May 7, replace all previous versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account holders. According to the report, there are approximately 100 changes between the old and new agreements.

Previously, until May 6, the agreement stated that users were not allowed to "lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law." However, the updated agreement in the U.S. has expanded significantly:

"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."

As noted by Nintendo Life, the agreement varies slightly in the UK, where users agree that:

"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 unauthorized use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

While Nintendo has not specified what "unusable" means, the language implies that the company may now have the authority to "brick" a user's console if it detects a violation of its rules. Additionally, changes to the privacy policy emphasize that Nintendo may monitor Switch users' online chats "in order to support a safe and family-friendly online environment and to detect violations of the Nintendo Account Agreement and other harmful or illegal interactions."

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These changes are likely a response to Nintendo's recent challenges, including high-profile piracy cases, and coincide with the upcoming launch of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 began on April 24, with the console priced at $449.99, and demand has been as expectedly high. Nintendo has issued a warning to U.S. customers who pre-ordered through the My Nintendo Store that release date delivery cannot be guaranteed due to overwhelming demand. For more information, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.