Nintendo has updated its user agreement with a stricter approach toward users who engage in activities such as hacking their Switch console, running emulators, or any form of "unauthorized use." As first noted by Game File, players have received notifications confirming that the "Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy" have been revised. These new terms replace all prior versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account holders as of May 7. According to the report from Game File, over 100 changes have been made between the previous and current agreements.

Prior to May 6, users agreed not to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo’s written consent—unless explicitly allowed under applicable law.

The revised U.S. version of this section is now significantly expanded:

"Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you 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."

As highlighted by Nintendo Life, the UK version reads slightly differently, with users agreeing that:

"Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE's written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

While Nintendo hasn’t explicitly defined what “unusable” entails, the phrasing implies the company could potentially "brick" your console remotely if it detects a breach of its policies. Additionally, revisions to the privacy policy now emphasize that Nintendo may monitor online voice chats on Switch systems “in order to support a safe and family-friendly online environment and to detect violations of the Nintendo Account Agreement and other harmful or illegal interactions.”

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These updates likely reflect Nintendo’s ongoing concerns regarding piracy, following several high-profile piracy cases, and also align with the upcoming release of the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled to launch on June 5.

Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 became available on April 24 at a fixed price of $449.99 — with results largely in line with expectations. Meanwhile, Nintendo has issued a notice to U.S. customers who pre-ordered the Switch 2 via the My Nintendo Store, warning that delivery by the release date cannot be guaranteed due to overwhelming demand. For more details, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.