Nintendo Switch Paid Online Service Details Coming Next Month

Nintendo Switch's online offering isn't the most robust, and that's why it's free. But that's [...]

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Nintendo Switch's online offering isn't the most robust, and that's why it's free. But that's changing on both fronts come this September when Nintendo Switch's online paid membership launches.

When exactly in September? Well, we currently don't know, but that might be changing soon. Nintendo has announced that it will disclose more details about Switch's online paid membership sometime in "early May," aka next month. And if you haven't checked your calendars recently, next month is really close.

According to Nintendo, information on said online paid membership will come way of its website, and presumably via a press release. Though you should never presume anything with Nintendo. They did just release a bunch of cardboard (Nintendo Labo) after all.

Nintendo has said that the online service "will provide consumers with a richness of online features that allow them to continuously enjoy Nintendo Switch," but whether it will be akin to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold in any meaningfully comparable way, remains to be seen.

As you may remember, Switch's paid online membership program was originally supposed to arrive late 2017, but was then delayed due to needing more time. And hopefully Nintendo has taken said time to make it as robust or appealing as possible.

Nintendo has previously said prices for membership would be $4 USD for 1 month, $8 for 3 months, or $20 for a year. This would notably make the offering $40 cheaper than what Sony and Microsoft offer with their consoles.

Given that September isn't that far away, hopefully this next information dump is exactly that, a dump, and not just a little spill. More specifically, I'd like Nintendo finally to reveal and lay out what exactly will be on offer, and what won't be on offer. Hopefully it's more than less, but given its bargain price-point, I'm not sure what to expect.

If there's basic online play functionality, some type of cloud-based storage/saving system, and an offering of free games each month, I'll be happy.

In other recent and related news, the Nintendo Switch is still selling like hotcakes on national hotcakes days at the international hotcakes fair: surpassing 17 million units in just one year. And unsurprisingly its killer line-up of first-party games is also performing very well.

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