Nintendo To Continue To Improve Switch Online Due To Backlash

Nintendo has doubled down on its commitment to its paid Switch Online subscription service in its latest corporate strategy briefing with investors.

After complaints about the quality and price of its newly added Expansion Pack tier, the company said it will continue “striving to provide services that satisfy consumers.”

“Last month, we released Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, a new membership plan that adds content to the existing service,” Nintendo stated. “Going forward, we will continue to improve and expand both Nintendo Switch Online and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack striving to provide services that satisfy consumers.”

Nintendo also revealed that the paid subscription service now has 32 million users, up to six million from the same time last year. That’s roughly equal to a third of the number of Switches Nintendo has sold, with the caveat that the 32 million number counts every person included in a family subscription. Rival service PlayStation Plus has 46 million subscribers, while Microsoft’s Game Pass had 18 million subscribers at the start of the year.

The Expansion Pack released last month added a slew of N64 and Sega Genesis games to Switch Online, but only for people willing to upgrade to a new $50 per year price tag, making it a more direct competitor to PS Plus and Game Pass.

But that price hike was too much for some people to swallow, especially when players realized that the Expansion Pack’s N64 emulation wasn’t up to Nintendo’s usual level of quality. The new tier also includes the paid Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

However, this backlash may not affect Nintendo as much as boycotters think. According to data published by the NPD Group, Nintendo’s handheld has remained a popular choice for U.S. consumers throughout 2021. Data from the Group showed the Switch to have a strong hold over the U.S. monthly hardware charts for units sold where it consistently held pole position in the charts for 33-months straight. While that reign was finally ended by Sony’s PlayStation 5 this September.

Here is the trailer for the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack subscription: