Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy - UPDATE: Nintendo confirms no recording is sent "until a report is submitted".

News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor
Updated on May 10, 2025

UPDATE 10/05/25: Nintendo has confirmed that it will only review video and audio recording as part of its user-report system.

“All recording is otherwise privately stored on device and no recording is sent to Nintendo until a report is submitted," nintendo said in a statement to Game File.

Original story follows.

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Original story 09/05/25: Nintendo has updated its Nintendo Account Agreement with a severe warning against "unauthorised use", in a bid to prevent emulation and piracy.

All those with a Nintendo account will have received an email (including Eurogamer) linking to the updated policy. And, as Game File's Stephen Totilo spotted, the wording for the Licence for Digital Products section has been altered.

The agreement for UK accounts now states digital products are "licensed only for personal and non-commercial use", and that any "unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable".

This differs slightly from the US, which states: "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

For comparison, here's the original wording (effective since April 2021): "You are not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law."

And here's the UK update in full: "Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE's written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

The US update is as follows: "Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorised copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo's written consent or express authorisation, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

The Nintendo Account Privacy Policy has also been updated ahead of the release of Switch 2. Now, Nintendo will be able to record video and voice chats stored on your console for a limited period of time - if you give consent.

This is intended for anyone who encounters "language or behaviour that may violate applicable laws", with the company able to review the last three minutes of recorded footage. This is to ensure a "safe and family-friendly online environment".

The update comes ahead of the Game Chat feature on Switch 2, where players can essentially video call each other during gameplay.

Back in March, Nintendo shared a legal victory over French file-sharing company Dstorage, which it stated was "significant...for the entire games industry".

It followed a string of moves against piracy, including the shutdown of Switch emulator Yuzu and a lawsuit against a streamer who regularly played pirated copies of Nintendo games ahead of release.
L|A

 

[ShahOfIran1979]

Pretty sure they've done this with all modern consoles since the Wii or DS.

 

[Fagnacious D]

Unauthorized use of a device I own? No thank you.
Yet another reason to pirate anything they make!

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Unauthorized use of a device I own? No thank you.
Yet another reason to pirate anything they make!

And they wonder why pirating their stuffs is popular?

 

[Fae Supremacist]

Yet another reason to pirate anything they make!

They have failed at the first reason, making games worth pirating.

 

[It's Little Alex Horne]

Not to suck Nintendo's cock, but don't other consoles also do this?

 

[George Lucas]

I don’t care about online play, so this doesn’t matter to me. But I wonder if this has more to do with preventing hackers in Mario Kart than anything else, given it’s tied to user reports.

 

[The Last Stand]

DSP was right: fuck you, Nintendo!

This differs slightly from the US, which states: "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

Not to suck Nintendo's cock, but don't other consoles also do this?

Sorta. Xbox consoles are able to be console banned, meaning your console would be blacklisted from Xbox Live from severe/repeated violations within the service, typically for hacking the console.

It'll probably be the same principle for the Switch 2. But, I'm thinking you'd need an Internet connection to get the most out of the console (i.e. downloading physical games from the physical license). Hypothetically speaking, Nintendo would be legally in the right to gimp your Nintendo hardware if you violate their terms.

 

[COME ON OUT YOU RAPIST]

I don’t care about online play, so this doesn’t matter to me. But I wonder if this has more to do with preventing hackers in Mario Kart than anything else, given it’s tied to user reports.

I don't think Nintendo is paying respectable Japanese salarymen to monitor player reports, the same way no other company is. So either they're buying jeets wholesale to handle this, who will eventually get bored and just set up a drinking bird to keep answering every report the same way, or it's automated. Either way, tying anything that serious to user reports is a horrible idea. It will cause problems and drain goodwill, which Nintendo has been doing a lot lately already.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

I just won't connect online then. Thanks for the heads up Jewtendo.

 

[Lovely Kin]

Always pirate and emulate.

 

[Divine right to rule]

You can talk a lot of shit about westoid devs being woke slop-peddlers, but man, no company is beating how scummy and anti-consumer Nintendo has been for the last years.
Fuck them and their overpriced shit.

 

[Schwarzwald]

Nintendo is kept afloat by nostalgia, brand recognition, and strong IP's to which people attach personal meaning. It is imperative to maintain strong ties to your consumer base. Antagonizing your fans in any way is a losing move, completely short-sighted. Chasing short-term pennies at the expense of your long-term livelihood. I understand they're a Japanese company, but it would behoove them to view themselves as an international brand and act accordingly.

 

[CEO of Autism]

no company is beating how scummy and anti-consumer Nintendo has been for the last years.

Try decades. They were notorious cunts in the NES days. They only pretend to be good bois when they're losing.

 

[Sugriva]

I just won't connect online then. Thanks for the heads up Jewtendo.

Guess you won't be playing any games then. "But I'll just buy physical!" you say. Hahaha they're just empty cards that let you download the game.

 

[Staticness]

Nintendo’s customer service is legendary, but the way they handle things outside the norm is pretty much outright hostility. Very Japanese of them.

 

[Margo Martindale]

Unauthorized use of a device I own? No thank you.
Yet another reason to pirate anything they make!

This. The XBOX 360 would brick itself after 15 minutes if it was modified and online

 

[Yamaha YM2612]

I'm unsure why people are spazzing about this while simultaneously using an internet forum that operates the same way

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Try decades. They were notorious cunts in the NES days. They only pretend to be good bois when they're losing.

At least in the NES days, 99.9% of the players had no idea how shitty Nintendo was about licensing their IP to other developers. It's not like streaming, content creation or...idk.. the fucking internet in general existed back then. It was just run of the mill corporate homo shit. Now, they actively punish fans of their IP for being too enthusiastic.

 

[Kiwi & Cow]

I'm unsure why people are spazzing about this while simultaneously using an internet forum that operates the same way

My nigger child, have you paid 499$ to join this forum?