Nintendo can brick your console for unauthorized use as per new user agreement
Nintendo is taking a more aggressive stance against piracy and emulation as confirmed by the updated user agreement. The changes state that users do no own their Nintendo Account Services but only purchase a license to use them so tampering with them could lead to grave consequences. Those found to be using these services in ways other than intended, Nintendo can brick your console.
The changes to the US Nintendo Account User Agreement were shared via email to Nintendo account holders as a link to the updated policy. These updates take effect in May 2025 so they should already be in place. One of the changes is the clarification that Nintendo services are licensed and not owned by users, which means there are some restrictions and guidelines that must be followed.
The License section explains that as per the EULA (End User License Agreement), users agree to not publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, bypass, modify, tamper with, or circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services. There are quite a few more clauses and the full list can be seen in the screenshot below. Failure to comply gives Nintendo the right to render the account or the console itself, “permanently unusable” or bricked.
The update to the UK EULA is not as extensive and states, “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.” If users fail to comply, the Digital product may become unusable.
Nintendo also updated its privacy policy recently in regards to the Switch 2 and GameChat. If users give consent, Nintendo can record video and voice chats stored on the console. The company said this is to ensure a safe and secure environment for certain services.
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