NINTENDO IS SERIOUS ABOUT ONLINE THIS TIME AROUND
The Switch will be the first Nintendo console to provide a paid online subscription service. With the news of a dedicated app meant for matchmaking and voice chat, this means that Nintendo is truly serious about it. “Online play with Switch is going to be something that’s key to the business,” Kimishima said in an interview with Time. They of course want to make money with this service, so it has to be fully realized. Kimishima has confirmed that the service will cost less than $30 a year, giving players access to online play and a free classic game download each month. The game expires each month, so you don’t necessarily get to keep said game like the competitors’ subscription services, but this service costs significantly less than PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold.
Nintendo hasn’t fully explained how the app will work and what we’ll exactly be getting from this subscription, but this means that Nintendo is surely confident in the Switch’s online endeavors. The company is going to make people excited to play Mario Kart and Splatoon online with voice chat and matchmaking. If they do it better than friend codes, then it’s already miles ahead of every past console.
This is a something that Nintendo is charging for, so they will feel compelled to deliver the best service that allows friends to connect and play together. In an interview with Time, Kimishima stresses this with, “I just want to make sure that everyone understands that we will be going above and beyond to make sure that our customers are getting a service that is worth paying for, so we’re paying special attention to make sure that this is, again, a valuable service that they will appreciate from us.”
