If you own a Switch, you most likely are paying for a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
A Nintendo Switch Online subscription, paid for monthly or yearly, allows you to:
- Play multiplayer games online
- Have access to exclusive Nintendo offers
- Play classic Nintendo games like Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Bros.
- Save game data to the cloud
- Use voice chat using the mobile app
All these perks give you a better Switch user experience.
However, if you feel like you’re not getting value for money from your subscription, or after months of playing your Switch you’re bored of it and plan to sell it so that you can buy another gaming console, you might be considering canceling your Nintendo Switch Online membership.
But how do you do that?
How to cancel your Nintendo Switch Online membership. To cancel your Switch Online membership you have to turn off your subscription’s auto-renewal setting. You can do this on your Nintendo Switch or the Nintendo website using your PC or mobile web browser. You need to ensure you cancel your membership at least 48 hours before the next payment is due to avoid being charged for an extra month or year. Note that if you still have some time left on your subscription when making the cancelation you can continue enjoying the benefits of Nintendo Switch Online because your membership discontinues at the expiry of the current paid term.
If you plan to cancel your Nintendo Online subscription, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do that.
How to cancel your Nintendo Switch Online membership using your Switch
- Power on your Switch, and then open the Nintendo eShop app. The app has an icon that looks similar to a shopping bag.
- On the menu of the page you’re directed to, scroll down to Nintendo Switch Online, and click on it.
- At the top right corner select your Profile.
- Again click on Nintendo Switch Online.
- On the page that appears you’ll see a tab with the words “Terminate Automatic Renewal”. Select this.
- A pop-up will appear with details showing the expiry date of your Nintendo Switch Online membership. Keep the date in mind because this is when you’ll no longer be able to enjoy Switch Online membership perks.
- On the pop-up click on Terminate.
- Another pop-up confirming the termination of your subscription will appear. Click on OK, and you’ll have successfully unsubscribed to Nintendo Switch Online.
Again, if you choose to cancel your Switch Online membership do it at least two days before renewal is due.
Cancelation should be immediate but there have been cases where it took up to 48 hours for the cancelation to register.
If you had paid for the Nintendo Switch Online family membership package, canceling it will affect everyone in the family group.
Canceling your Switch Online membership from a web browser
- On your PC’s or phone’s web browser go to the Nintendo Website and log into your account.
- Once logged in at the top right corner of your screen click on your Profile.
- From the right, a panel will show. Choose Settings from this panel.
- Your user info will be displayed. On the left select the Shop menu.
- On the next page, you’ll see your Nintendo account balance and payment info. At the bottom of the page select Your Subscriptions.
- Another window will come up with a tab reading “Check Nintendo Switch Online membership status”. Click on it.
- You’ll see details of your current plan and a tab “Turn Off Automatic Renewal.”Click on this to discontinue your Switch Online membership.
Remember that your membership does not end on the day you discontinue the service.
So, for example, if you paid for a year’s membership in January but cancel in August, you’ll be able to continue using Nintendo Switch Online for the remaining four months of the year.
Can you get a refund when you cancel Nintendo Switch Online?
Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t offer a prorated refund.
So, for you not to have wasted your money you should use Nintendo Switch Online until the time paid for comes to an end, even after cancellation.
You may be able to get a refund for a Switch Online subscription gift card.
To do so, however, the gift card must not have been redeemed or its code revealed.
You also need to have the receipt used to purchase it, and the retailer who sold the card must accept returns.
5 reasons to keep your Nintendo Switch Online membership
Nintendo has been offering its online service since 2019, and in my opinion, it is worth paying for.
So here are five reasons to keep your Nintendo Switch Online membership going.
Do you love playing Nintendo Switch games online?
If your answer to this question is yes, then the only way you can do that is through a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
Before Nintendo debuted their online service everyone could play Switch games for free online.
Now you have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to have online access to your
favorite Nintendo Switch games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Monster Hunter Generations.
Save game data in the cloud
Without a Nintendo Online subscription, your game data is stored on your console’s system memory.
If something happened to your Switch you could lose all the game data that you spent hundreds of hours working hard on.
Avoid this by registering for the Nintendo Online service which gives you automatic cloud backups for all your games.
It is cheaper compared to other online gaming services
If you also have an Xbox or PlayStation paying for Nintendo Switch Online will cost you the least.
Nintendo Switch Online costs $3.99 a month, $7.99 for three months, and $19.99 a year. Nintendo also has a family plan, which allows up to 8 members to use their service, at $35 per year.
PlayStation Plus membership is $9.99 per month, $24.99 for three months, and $59.99 yearly.
For Xbox Live Gold you’ll have to fork out almost the same amount as a PlayStation Plus subscription.
As you can see, Nintendo Switch Online is way cheaper than the other gaming services.
You get free access to classic Nintendo Games
The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Pro Wrestling, Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream, these are some of the classic Nintendo games you only get access to if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online member.
If you have a family membership the multiplayer feature available only on Nintendo Switch Online also allows you to enjoy playing these old-school games as a family or with friends.
I believe the multiplayer functionality is the main reason most gamers pay for Nintendo Switch Online.
Get free games and exclusive offers
Nintendo regularly rewards its online service members with free games, limited promotions, and product sales.
For example, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers currently get Tetris 99 for free.
The many perks gained from a Nintendo Switch Online subscription justify the yearly or monthly fee.
So if you have some money to spare, get this online service.
I recommend that you pay for the Nintendo Switch Online yearly subscription, not monthly because, in the long run, it is cheaper than paying each month.
An individual Nintendo Switch Online subscription costs $3.99 while yearly it is $19.99.
If you pay monthly for a year it will cost you $47.88, which is more than double the price for the one-off annual payment.
Conclusion
Whatever the reason, it is possible to cancel your Nintendo Switch Online membership at any time.
All you need to do is use your Nintendo Switch, PC, or mobile to turn off the automatic renewal of your Switch Online membership.
If you choose to cancel your subscription do it two days before payment is due otherwise you might be charged for the next month or year.
When you cancel your membership you can use up the remaining time of your current subscription to continue enjoying online features, but after that, you’ll not be able to play online mode for any of your games.
That means online multiplayer will not be accessible, your game data will not be saved on the cloud, you can’t play classic Nintendo games like Super Mario Bros. 3.
On cancelation, your game saves will be kept on your cloud for 180 days. You’ll not be able to access them unless you renew your subscription, if you don’t they’ll be deleted permanently.
If you’re able to afford it I strongly recommend you continue paying your Nintendo Switch Online subscription, preferably the one-off yearly payment that costs $19.99. That translates to $1.66 a month!
FAQs
How can I add credit to my Nintendo account? Basically, you need to go to the eStore and then go to your account. From here you can add credit by adding your account details. Check out this article that’ll explain all of this in more detail for you.
How long will the Nintendo Switch be around? At least until 2026. But newer Switch will inevitably come out, so you’ll be able to invest in new consoles. Want to know more about this topic, read more about it here.
How do I know what Switch I’ve bought? There are a few things you can check to see what Switch you’ve bought. These include the box, the model number, serial numbers, product description, and price. Still not sure what to look out for? Check out this article here.