Nintendo Switch Online now has 10 million subscribers, Nintendo has said.
That’s up from the 9.8 million reported back in April.
Nintendo Switch Online – the Switch’s version of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold – launched in September 2018 and is required to play most Switch games online (including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). It also gives you access to NES games, the wonderful Tetris 99, save data cloud backup and voice chat via phones. It costs £3.49 a month or £6.99 for three months or £17.99 for 12 months.
So, how does that 10m figure compare to PlayStation and Xbox? As of February 2019, PlayStation Plus had 36.3 million members. Microsoft doesn’t report how many people subscribe to Xbox Live Gold specifically, but as of April this year Xbox Live had over 63 million users (that’s across multiple platforms).
Speaking during its annual shareholders meeting recently, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company needs to “further enrich” subscription services in the future.
“Nintendo’s policy is that we will consider whether each product we offer is suited to a subscription model as we expand our business in the future,” he said.
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Then, responding to a question pointing out the content of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription “still feels rather weak” despite being cheaper than other subscription services, Furukawa insisted Nintendo “will continue to make the content of the service even more appealing going forward”.
But what could that entail? Another person asked whether Nintendo will make Nintendo 64 and GameCube titles available as part of a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Furukawa, as you’d expect, was tight-lipped:
“We cannot provide any new information about how or in what form software developed for past platforms will be delivered to consumers in the future, but we are currently offering Nintendo Entertainment System titles as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service.