Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed in a recent Q&A session that the company is aiming to improve the Nintendo Switch Online service. Furukawa answered a question from the press asking about the future of Nintendo's online ambitions during a financial call. According to Nintendo's president and director, there are indeed considerations to expand and improve the Nintendo Switch Online service. Furukawa also revealed the latest subscriber numbers.
Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is the company's subscription service designed for its latest handheld console Nintendo Switch. It is an upgraded version of Nintendo Network that was launched for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS. NSO includes online multiplayer features, cloud-saving capability, a smartphone app with voice chat, and a digital shop for legacy Nintendo titles. Initially, the service was free, and Nintendo offered free trials later on, but currently, it is priced at $3.99/mo or $19.99/yr.
During the questions after announcing the company's six-month financial results, Nintendo executives were asked whether the company had initiatives to improve upon Nintendo Switch Online to increase the number of subscribers and bring additional value to current customers. Furukawa took the question and started by announcing the current state of affairs. According to him, Nintendo Switch Online surpassed 36 million paid subscribers a couple of months ago, in September 2022.
Furukawa noted that some are choosing to discontinue the membership, as happens with every subscription service, but the numbers are rising. The same goes for Nintendo Switch players and Switch online play. Last year's addition of a new tier called Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack has been partly responsible for increases in users, as people can finally access Nintendo 64 titles with it. In terms of the initiatives to help grow the service, Furukawa assured that the company is considering many such initiatives, including "further enhancements" to the NSO content.
The company is hesitant to give any details about future developments, so it's hard to say exactly what enhancements could be expected. There are certain gripes with NSO among Switch gamers, that could be addressed if Nintendo is listening to fans. Problems with the Nintendo Switch Online voice chat implementation have driven players to use Discord, so a native voice chat would certainly be appreciated. While Furukawa said that the new Expansion pack tier has increased the number of customers, it has been seen as yet another way for Nintendo to charge people for the content. Nintendo might consider bringing locked content to all subscribers.
Source: Nintendo (via Nintendo Everything)