Nintendo Wants to "Boost the Appeal" of Switch Online Subscriptions

Nintendo's online subscription service called Nintendo Switch Online offers several incentives for subscribers including online play and a catalogue of retro games, but Nintendo is currently planning on adding to its appeal even more.

Nintendo Switch Online was put in place late last year, a service which is now required to play most online-capable games on the Switch. Those games could previously be played online with no subscription before being gated by a monthly or yearly fee, but Nintendo included a library of NES games and cloud storage capabilities to the deal.

Like other consoles' online subscription services, people can either sign up for a full year of Nintendo Switch Online at once or just go month by month, the latter an option which'll eventually end up costing more. Still, Nintendo's company president Shuntaro Furukawa said in a Q&A session with investors (via GamesIndustry.biz) that a growing number of people are opting to subscribe for shorter amounts of time as opposed to signing up for a full year.

"We are not disclosing details by each membership plan but among consumers who have purchased memberships, however, a growing percentage is now opting for shorter plans like the one-month membership," Furukawa said. "This is in contrast to the situation around the end of October of last year, when we reported that over half were opting for a 12-month family or individual membership."

To encourage those subscribers to opt for either the yearlong membership whether that means they do so as an individual or through the family account, Furukawa said its "critical" people continue using the service for long stretched of time and said the company wants to "boost the appeal" of it for yearly subscribers.

"It is critical that these members want to continue using the service for a long time rather than letting it expire, and for that we need to build relationships with consumers and enrich the content" Furukawa said. "With this in mind, we are currently planning ways to boost the appeal of the service on a yearly basis. We will announce more details as soon as we are ready."

Nintendo's director Shinya Takahashi echoed these sentiments by saying Nintendo is "preparing various new offerings for consumers who subscriber to the service." Both of Nintendo's leaders cited Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a major factor in Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions.