It"s been a long road to get to the launch of the Nintendo Switch Online service, but it looks like it will finally happen next week. The company has taken to Twitter to announce that the service will go live next week, on September 18 in the US and September 19 in Europe. Alongside the launch, those interested will be able to get a seven-day free trial to evaluate the quality of the service.
There has been some delay in bringing the service to customers, and some details are still unclear. However, it looks as if Nintendo will be shedding some more light on the matter tomorrow, when it will be hosting a new Direct presentation. The event was supposed to take place last week, but a devastating earthquake in Japan caused it to be delayed. It will be happening at 3pm Pacific time/6pm Eastern Time/11pm GMT, and you can watch it here.
While we wait for additional information, here what"s known to be included in the subscription:
- Online play and voice chat through the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app
- Access to classic NES titles (20 at launch) updated to support online features
- Save Data Cloud Backup, though it"s already been confirmed that not all titles will support this
- Unspecified special offers
The service will cost $3.99 for one month, $7.99 for three, or $19.99 for 12. There"s also a family membership option which costs $34.99 per year and allows up to 8 accounts to be connected. Hopefully, Nintendo will provide some more detail in tomorrow"s presentation.