We should receive more information regarding what to expect from Nintendo Switch Online today during tonight’s Nintendo Direct presentation. The service begins on the 18th of September in North America and 19th September in Europe. The Japanese website has gone live with more information detailing the family plan which you can subscribe to once the service is live. Reddit member Glorious Sunshine has translated the page and has provided the summary below.
Regarding the Family Plan:
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You cannot be in more than one family [plan].
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If parental controls were set before 14th May 2018, it’ll automatically apply to that account’s family members.
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You have the option to set a member to be the guardian account, and exercise parental controls on other family members. (Only one member can be the Managing account, but you can have multiple guardian accounts).
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Within a family, members do not share MyNintendo points, eShop account balances, and purchase history.
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Nintendo accounts linked with different switch systems can also be added as a Family member. [p.s. it says nothing regarding accounts from different regions i.e. whether this applies to an UK and US account as many have asked about, however, I have been able to add my own UK and JP account to one family. I’m unsure how the Online service will apply to this “family” though.]
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If any member within a Family purchases the Nintendo Switch Online Family Plan, all members can enjoy the Online service. (You do not need to use the same Nintendo Switch console as the person who bought the Family Plan. The Nintendo Switch Online paid service will release in September 2018).
Regarding the Managing Account:
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You can invite other [normal, i.e. not linked with a family] Nintendo accounts into your Family.
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If the Managing Account holder is 18+, you can create Child Accounts.
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If the Managing Account holder is 18+, you may set any 18+ accounts in your Family as a Guardian account.
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By accessing Family Settings, the Managing Account holder can delegate another account to be the Managing account, or remove members from the Family.
If you remove yourself as the Managing Account, the following happens:
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You will no longer be the Managing Account (however, if you held the role of a Guardian as well, your role/privileges as a Guardian remains)
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All members of the Family, including yourself, will fall under the management of the new Managing Account Holder
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You may no longer change the login ID nor password for Child Accounts
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You can no longer add or remove Child Accounts
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A copy of communication [regarding purchases] from Nintendo to the Child Account will no longer be sent to you (but will be sent to the new Managing Account Holder)
Other Information:
Q: What happens if the Managing Account was deleted?
A: The Family will disband, all accounts associated with the Family will no longer belong in any Family (i.e. they may join another Family), Parental Controls will no longer apply. If any Child Accounts were created under the Family, they will be deleted along with the Managing Account. The only way to prevent this is to give the role of Managing Account to someone else first (see above). If you contact Nintendo within 30 days of deleting the account, it is possible to recover the account.
Q: My family has multiple Nintendo Switch consoles, if we purchase the Family Plan, would the multiple accounts and multiple switches in my family all receive the Nintendo Switch Online service?
A: Yes. Even if the members of your family use separate Switch consoles, if all of the accounts used on those Switches fall under the same Family, all accounts can use the Nintendo Switch Online service. (You do not need to be using the same Switch as the person who purchased the Family Plan)
Q: Family Plans can only be purchased by an Nintendo Account Holder who is 18+, are there any age restrictions which apply to members of the Family using the Family Plan?
A: No. The purchase must be made by someone with an 18+ Nintendo Account, but the members of the Family can be of any age. They will be able to access all aspects of the Online service with the exception of the smart phone app, which has an age restriction of 13.
I don’t understand how this works. Does a family include up to 8 users (that can be on more than a sole switch system)?
The article doesn’t say how many “family members” it allows up to. So I don’t know what the limit is, if there is a limit, on how big the “family” can be. However, it does explicitly say that each family member can use their own Switch console, and don’t have to play on the same system.
Yes. It links your nintendo account user data. For example, when I purchase the family plan I will be on it as well as adding my japanese account that is also on my system, but I will also be adding my sisters accounts, which are on their switch systems. It’s not system specific, it’s the USER being linked. :]
Yes a family can include up to 8 members, each member having a Nintendo account.
My family currently consists of 7 people, each with their own switch, all living in different provinces than me.
Family membership sounds like a right pain in the äŕşě.
Seems pretty straightforward to me. Be the managing account and invite people. Using people you know in real life split the cost of the service to make it as cheap as possible :)
Just don’t bother with it? Lol
If I buy a game (or DLC!) from the eshop, can other family members play that game on their personal Switch devices (without having to buy it again)? I can do that with a cartridge by just handing them the game (obviously). My inability to do this with eshop purchases is the main reason I keep buying physical copies of games. If the answer to this question is “yes” and my children can play the games I buy, then I will buy a subscription and 3 more Switches before the end of this year.
If we don’t buy the family plan, can we upgrade to it later?
Correct me if I’m wrong here. But of you share a console with your child. Aren’t you a sad bastard?
“Q: What happens if the Managing Account was deleted?
A: The Family will disband”
Wow, that sounds really harsh. So many broken families.