Nintendo Switch Online Update May Be Good News for GameCube Fans

A new Nintendo Switch Online update out of Nintendo may be good news for Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED users hoping to play more GameCube games on the system. After previously only offering NES and SNES games, Nintendo semi-recently expanded the Switch Online library with the "Expansion Pack," a more expensive tier that added Sega Genesis and N64 games to the mix. Many are expecting GameCube games to be next, but at the moment Nintendo hasn't confirmed this. However, they may have teased it during a recent earnings call and while speaking to investors.

When asked by an investor about how Nintendo is planning to grow the number of Switch Online subscribers, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa teased that Nintendo is "considering various initiatives" and "further enhancements."

"As of September 2022, the number of paid Nintendo Switch Online members has surpassed 36 million," said Furukawa. "While there are some users who choose not to renew their memberships once they expire, the number of members is increasing overall, along with increases in people playing Nintendo Switch and titles that support online play. In addition, the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, which we started last year, is accounting for a gradually increasing proportion of overall memberships thanks in part to the addition of Nintendo 64 titles."

Furukawa continued:

"The goal of Nintendo Switch Online as a service is to help users to enjoy playing on Nintendo Switch for a long time, so we are considering various initiatives, including further enhancements to the content of the service. As we discussed in today's presentation, our goal is to continue to use Nintendo Account to maintain long, positive relationships with our consumers. In line with this strategy, we consider Nintendo Switch Online as our initiative to encourage our users to continue to enjoy Nintendo Switch for many years to come."

As you can see, there's nothing here that deliberately teases the Nintendo GameCube, but mentioning the N64 and then talking about "further enhancements" right after does seemingly hint at more retro consoles coming to the subscription service. And if this happens, you'd assume the GameCube is next in line as the next home console, though there's always the possibility the first handheld, the Game Boy, will be introduced first.