Nintendo Switch Online Gaming Service Launching In 2018 With Bargain Pricing
If you cringe at the thought of paying $60 a year for an Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus (or slightly lower if you scour the internet for deals), Nintendo is driving a hard bargain with its upcoming online gaming service for the Switch. The company announced that Nintendo Switch Online will be priced at just $19.99 per year.
Nintendo Switch gamers have been waiting to hear how much the Japanese gaming giant would charge for the service, but gamers weren’t exactly in any hurry -- the service is currently operating with reduced features for free until the full-blown service is operational. Nintendo says that it will release a companion app for the Switch over the summer that will allow gamers to invite friends, chat, setup gaming appointment and initiate gaming sessions.
$19.99 is a small price to pay for a year’s worth of online gaming, but Nintendo is still offering two other payment options for the timid. You can get a one-month subscription for $3.99, while a three-month subscription will set you back $7.99. But trust us; just pay the $19.99 and be done with it.
As an added bonus, Nintendo will provide [limited] access to its back catalog of games, with new multiplayer capabilities added in for good measure. Although Nintendo doesn’t want to play its hand early on the full catalog of games that will be available, it does state that Switch gamers will be able to download and play title like Super Mario Bros. 3, Balloon Fight and Dr. Mario for as long as they want — as long as they have an active subscription Nintendo Switch Online.
Nintendo hasn’t given a more detailed timeline for when “Switch Online” will become active other than to say that it will arrive in 2018, but we hope that it’s sooner rather than later.
