Nintendo says your Switch 2 isn’t really yours even if you paid for it
The new Nintendo Switch 2 is almost here. Next month, eager fans will finally be able to get their hands on the highly anticipated follow-up to the wildly popular hybrid console. But before you line up (or frantically refresh your browser for a preorder), you might want to read the fine print, because Nintendo might be able to kill your console.
Yes, really. That’s not just speculation, folks. According to its newly updated user agreement, Nintendo has granted itself the right to make your Switch 2 “permanently unusable” if you break certain rules. Yes, the company might literally brick your device.
Buried in the legalese is a clause that says if you try to bypass system protections, modify software, or mess with the console in a way that’s not approved, Nintendo can take action. And that action could include completely disabling your system. The exact wording makes it crystal clear: Nintendo may “render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part.”
That’s an astonishing level of control for any company to claim, especially when you’re the one who paid for the hardware. Quite frankly, its unacceptable and consumers shouldn’t stand for it.
Now, to be fair, this is probably targeted at people who reverse engineer the system or install unauthorized software -- think piracy, modding, cheating, and the like. But the broad and vague nature of the language leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Who decides what qualifies as “unauthorized use”? Nintendo does.
And that’s what makes this so troubling. It’s not just about banning online play anymore. If Nintendo doesn’t like what you’re doing with your system, it could potentially disable it entirely -- even offline. Your console could become worthless. How is that fair?
With the Switch 2 expected to be more powerful and more tightly integrated with Nintendo’s services, the company clearly wants to discourage tinkering and enforce stricter control over its ecosystem. But that control might come at a cost to users who just want to modify the hardware they paid for.
So if you were thinking about modding your Switch 2 to install homebrew apps or just messing around for fun, you might want to think twice. Nintendo isn’t just cracking down -- it’s literally holding a kill switch.