Nintendo Can Brick Your Switch And Skirt Lawsuits In Outrageous EULA Update

When it comes to "companies that gamers groan in irritation," you probably think of names like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Activision, NCSoft, Konami, and maybe Nexon or Capcom. You might not think of Nintendo just yet, but the company is rapidly speedrunning its way to the very top of that list with aggressively anti-fan and anti-consumer behavior. The latest in the long list of Nintendo's offenses is a new update to the Nintendo Account user agreement that explicitly gives Nintendo permission to brick your Switch 2 if you breach the terms.

That's not an exaggeration; that's literally what it says. The specific verbiage is that users "acknowledge that if [they] 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 other words, just like we said, if you breach the terms of the agreement, Nintendo reserves the right to brick your game console.

What are the specific terms? Incredibly draconian. You are explicitly not allowed to "publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works" of anything to do with the Nintendo Account, which basically means anything that happens on a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2. You're also not allowed to "bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services," which, in combination with the above, is clearly meant to protect against emulation.


Of course, that's not the only controversial part of the license agreement. Just like every other scumbag game publisher out there, Nintendo is now specifically requiring that users waive their right to file class-action lawsuits against the publisher and instead enter arbitration. You can opt out of this clause, but you had better get on it, because it requires you to submit that request in writing no more than 30 days after you accept the user agreement.

There's more, too—the newly-modified EULA includes additional language to clearly specify that expenditures made on Nintendo products and services are not "purchases" but instead grant you a "limited license to use such items in connection with the Nintendo Account Services." The agreement goes on to say that "other than this limited license, you have no right or title in or to" these items, and that they cannot be sold or transferred to a third party. This clause technically only applies to digital purchases and downloads, not physical games, but it does seem to imply that Game Cards may be intrinsically tied to a specific Nintendo account once used.

What do you think, dear reader? Does this despicable corporate behavior finally put you off Nintendo and its games? Or are you still itching to lay down five-hundred of your hard-earned US dollars for the chance to get blue-shelled by 23 other players at once? Sound off like you got a pair in the comments, even if you don't.

_{This story was broken by Game File, thanks to PC Gamer for pointing it out.}