One year after the launch of Nintendo Switch Online, the online service for Nintendo Switch that gives players access to online multiplayer, a library of NES games, and much more, Nintendo has officially added SNES games to the service. Just like Nintendo did with the release of NES Online, SNES has launched with 20 games available to play and has plans to add more over time.
While Nintendo Switch Online isn't quite in the same league as PS Plus or Xbox Live when it comes to online services, it's low cost and continued support with new games has slowly improved the overall worth. Now that SNES Online has been released with a new slate of classic games for subscribers to sink their teeth into, there's one lingering question at the forefront of people's mind about the future of Nintendo Switch Online: When will Nintendo 64 games come to the Nintendo Switch?
We've got a few ideas about what Nintendo might be planning, but to truly understand their strategy plans, we need to take a look back at the history of the Nintendo Switch. From the release of the original NES to the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has typically kept their consoles on a 5-6 year lifespan, while their handhelds have had much more variation due to incremental upgrades like the GameBoy Advance SP, DS Lite, Nintendo 2DS, and so on.
This would lead to the assumption that following the Nintendo Switch's worldwide release on March 3, 2017, and the Switch Lite two years later on September 20, 2019, that an eventual Nintendo Switch 2 would come sometime in 2023. However, Nintendo has been open about their plans to support the Switch longer than the traditional lifespan of their consoles. During an investor Q&A back in February 2018, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto hinted at the fact that it's likely the Switch would exceed the usual 5-6 year lifespan, with continued support for 7-10 years.
Nintendo Switch Online launched on September 19, 2018, a little over 18 months after the console was released. Online launched with online multiplayer support, cloud-saves, voice-chat through the Nintendo Switch phone app, the NES Online Library of games, and additional discounts and bonuses such as the online exclusive game, Tetris 99. If the plan is to support the Nintendo Switch for longer than usual, then Nintendo has much more time to implement support for things like Nintendo 64 Online, GameCube Online, or even GameBoy Online.
Over the past year, Nintendo has added between 4-6 new games to the NES Online library every month, with a total of 48 games now available, and an additional 15 special variants. SNES Online released on September 5, 2019, almost one year after the launch of online with its own slate of 20 games, and Nintendo has confirmed that while games will continue to be added to both NES and SNES over time, it won't be as frequent as we've seen so far.
If the current trend continues, then the answer to the Nintendo 64 question seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? Nintendo 64 games will be added to Switch Online in September 2020. It's not plausible to expect that Nintendo will add free games for every console they've ever released to Nintendo Switch Online, in fact, it's safe to say that the Wii, WiiU, DS, and 3DS, are likely entirely out of the question due to the business benefits of ports, remakes, and Deluxe style upgrades. However, bringing a library of games from Nintendo 64, GameCube, GameBoy, or GameBoy Advance, isn't too farfetched given Nintendo's legacy with the Virtual Console.
Back in January, SNES Online was leaked after dataminers were able to find evidence in Switch Online's source code for 22 SNES games as well as four different emulators. One emulator was already being used at the time for NES Online and the second is now being used for SNES Online. This suggests that Nintendo already has plans for at least two more platforms to come to the service using an emulator in the next couple of years.
Let's hypothesis that the Nintendo Switch 2 wouldn't release until 2024, 8 years after the launch of the Nintendo Switch and perfectly in line with Nintendo's planned support for the console. Year 2 brought Nintendo Switch Online and Year 3 introduced the Switch Lite and SNES Games; with at least five years still left in this hypothetical, Year 4 could potentially see the release of N64 Online, GameBoy Online in Year 5, and another console update like the Switch Pro alongside GameCube Online or GameBoy Advance Online in Year 6, which is still two years before a new console would launch.
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With games like The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening having just released, the Nintendo Switch isn't exactly struggling in the games department right now and although Links Awakening has the worst ending in the whole Zelda series, the remake has once again released to critical acclaim. Right now, Nintendo hasn't announced many first-party published games for 2020 outside of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in March, so the release of N64 Online in September would certainly help pad out the consoles third year on the market.
After the recent Nintendo Direct at the start of the month, it's clear that the Nintendo Switch is here to stay and that Nintendo is in a far better position than they've ever been with third-party support and indies growing year on year. At this point, N64 Online seems inevitable and given the varying leaks, rumours, and history of the consoles, our best guess is a September 2020 release window. Speculating on what 20 games are likely to arrive with the release of N64 Online will have to be a topic for another day.