Nintendo didn't make preordering the Switch 2 particularly easy—especially with its back and forth decisions in the face of tariffs. But even if you manage to get your hands on a Switch 2 for launch day, be careful, because Nintendo is ready to brick any Switch device you own should you break its rules—and I'm not talking about cheating at Mario Party.
Rather, Nintendo is particularly concerned about Switch users who hack their systems, use emulators, or engage in piracy using Nintendo hardware. These players are the targets of the company's newfound bloodlust, and they're not messing around: steal our games, and lose the right to use your console.
Stephen Totilo of Game File spotted the new philosophy on Thursday, when Nintendo sent out an email with the subject line: "Updates to Nintendo Account User Agreement and Nintendo Privacy Policy." Totilo counted over 100 edits to the Nintendo Account User Agreement, but the major change was to how the company handles modifications and piracy. The original agreement statement that you weren't allowed to "lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services," unless you got the OK from Nintendo or the law permitted. Seems reasonable.
However, the modified agreement is quite different, and outlines a stark new reality for users who might consider going against Nintendo's wishes:
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.
"Unusable" doesn't necessarily spell out how Nintendo plans to act when they find a player that has broken these rules, but it doesn't bode well for them—or their Switch.It would seem Nintendo has a back-end capability to block Switches from running properly if there's evidence of such misconduct.
While harsh, this isn't too surprising. Nintendo certainly hasn't looked the other way when it comes to piracy in the past. The company was more than happy to ban you from online play if they found you playing games illegally, for example—a risk some players took to hack their Switches, even if they weren't trying to steal their games. (Maybe they just wanted to boost the performance of Tears of the Kingdom before Nintendo offered an official solution?)
