If you pre-ordered the new Switch from Nintendo and you want to know how the online subscription will work, there are some bad news for you, regarding the Nintendo Switch free games you can play.
The company announced that all subscribers to the Nintendo Switch Online Service will get a free NES or Super NES game each month. Here is the full statement pulled from nintendo.com.
“Subscribers will get to download and play a Nintendo Entertainment System™ (NES) or Super Nintendo Entertainment System™ (Super NES) game (with newly-added online play) for free for a month.”
This may look like a sweet deal, right? Well, it isn’t because there is a catch that Nintendo didn’t mentioned, but was later confirmed by Chris Kohler of Wired.
Yes, that’s right. The free Nintendo Switch games you get will expire after one month. It doesn’t matter if your online subscription is paid for a year or two. The games will be removed instantly from your library.
Nintendo Switch Free Games Are Partially Free
According to the information revealed so far, Nintendo Switch Free Games are only partially free. Here is how it works.
At the beginning of each month, you can download a free game for your Nintendo Switch, if you are an active subscriber to the Nintendo Switch Online Service.
During that month, you can play the free game provided by Nintendo, but when the month ends, the game is gone.
While your progress might not be removed, if you wish to play that specific video game again for different reasons, you will have to buy it.
This means that if you wish to beat the free game offered by Nintendo, you have to be quite fast, or you have to quit your job.
Nintendo’s Poor Practice
As you can see on the neogaf.com thread here, most people didn’t receive this announcement very well, and they have good reasons.
Nintendo’s approach isn’t the smartest, especially if we compare their Online Service with those offered by Sony and Microsoft.
Even if Sony increased their prices for PlayStation Plus Subscriptions last year, it is still worth paying for their service, simply because you get several free games every month.
These games remain yours as long as you are an active PS Plus member. If your subscription ends, the games are locked, but never removed.
Similar to Sony, Microsoft is offering free games each month, without setting a limit on how long they will remain in your library. The only condition is to pay your subscription.
Nintendo, on the other hand set a limit, and it is only normal for people to act against it. People don’t like limits, and everyone knows that.
It is still unknown how much the Nintendo Switch Online Service will cost, but even if it costs $5/month, the fact that you need to buy the game again if you don’t have the time to finish it in one month, it is a huge letdown for everyone.
What do you think about Nintendo’s approach? Let us know in the comments below.
