Nintendo Switch Online is Nintendo's paid service for the Nintendo Switch allowing for multiplayer, giving users the ability to back up their game saves to the cloud, and access to games on a monthly basis. Previously, Nintendo slated it would be available in September. Now, it has announced the Nintendo Switch Online release date. The Nintendo Switch Online release date is September 18 in the US and September 19 in the UK. There will be a seven day free trial available for all Nintendo Account holders as well.
More information on Nintendo Switch Online will be revealed during the next Nintendo Direct event slated for September 13.
A month's subscription for Nintendo Switch Online will cost US$3.99 (about Rs. 280), three months for $7.99 (about Rs. 560), and a full year for $19.99 (about Rs. 1,280). In Japan, the prices for those periods are JPY 300 (about Rs. 170), JPY 800 (about Rs. 460), and JPY 2,400 (about Rs. 1,380), respectively. There is a family plan as well, allowing up eight people to use Nintendo Switch Online for $34.99 for the year (about Rs. 2,450).
It will be interesting to see how Nintendo Switch Online is when it hits. The lack of options for voice chat would mean hardcore Switch fans would have to resort to the likes of Discord while its low price point seems too good to be true. We won't be surprised to see Nintendo ramp up the costs attached to its service over time much like PS Plus and Xbox Live have. Furthermore, the site teases exclusive deals for Nintendo Switch Online members, what these entail are yet to be known though we won't be surprised to see these operate similar to added discounts on games for PS Plus and Xbox Live subscribers.
Considering that the Nintendo Switch is not available in India officially, it's safe to say that we won't see any local pricing or availability for the Nintendo Switch Online service either. So if you own a Nintendo Switch and are residing in India, you'd probably be restricted to online subscription codes for the service or Nintendo eShop credit via the likes of Amazon US.
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