They can't play at the same time. Only one of them can play games that belong to you at one time.
Nintendo Switch now supports digital game sharing amongst multiple consoles
- Thread starter Atheerios
- Start date
They can't play at the same time. Only one of them can play games that belong to you at one time.
How does it benefit Xbox and Sony when they do it?
Plus, don't worry...people will still call it Anti-Consumer eventually. :P
He has to be online at all times. And has to use your account so you need to give him your password.
So if I login to someone else's switch can they purchase games on that switch using my payment methods or is that locked to primary console?
My brother literally just ran out to buy a Micro SD card. He's going to download Undertale, Snake Pass, Golf Story, Shovel Knight, Yooka Laylee, Bloodstained Curse of the Moon etc. He already owned a Switch. Nintendo didn't benefit at all. Very strange of them to offer this.
The NES games is awesome though. I would not have bought a single NES game anymore and Nintendo have caught on to this. For the price point I'd say this service is a still.
Even the app actually works really well. The voice chat starts instantly when you start a game. It knows the moment you start playing.
Yes, it just turns off the Automatic Upload so that the Current Cloud Backup is not Overwritten. You can manually push the Upload or Delete the Local Save and Download the Backup and then Re-enable the Automatic Upload Feature.
So, to be 100% clear, because I still see people going back and forth on this; does it work EXACTLY like it does on PS4/X1? My system is my friend's primary, his system is my primary, I download games from his account, and play them online simultaneously with him while I'm logged into my own account?
Yepp already done. So from now on if I'm already buying a game, the only thing he has to take into account before paying is that he can't play it offline. He's one lucky sod.
No this won't work.
Whatever isn't your primary Switch but is using your profile will get an Error Code 2819-0003 soon after your primary Switch launches a game using the same exact linked profile.
I've tried it both using the same game and different games but still same profile, and the Primary Switch account will always trump the secondary Switch + same account as the Switch.
As soon as the primary Switch terminates whatever game it launches, you can resume whatever you were playing on the secondary Switch provided that the Secondary didn't terminate the game.
I haven't tried any disconnection loop holes though.
Saw this on reddit :
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw...you_can_now_access_digital_content_on/e68q9wb
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw...you_can_now_access_digital_content_on/e68q9wb
Can anybody verify that ?
Plus you can't go online on that account whilst he is playing
Yes-ish. You can't play the Same Game at the Same Time(I don't believe Xbox allows this either) and you have to be online to play each others games.
You could just set his console as your Primary Console and then he can use his own Profile, but then you have to be online on your Switch.
Also, you can disable Cloud Saves for your Account on His Switch and Still have them Active on your Switch so that he doesn't overwrite your saves.
I am in the exact same situation like yours in regards to my system is my friend's primary and vice versa.
I tested this with Mario Tennis Aces, and we were both able to play the game without getting the suspended/interrupted error, as long as we launched the game using different profiles.
We didn't get a chance to test the online tournament mode though.
Last edited:
Except if you also want to use your Switch Online at the same time apparently:
This is perfect for me.
Both me and one of my daughters have a Switch, and we have a joint account through which I buy games both of us are interested in and then whenever someone wants to play a game from that account, the account is deactivated on one Switch and activated on the other.
Now this will all be trivial for us - the joint account will remain "main" on my Switch, and both of us will be able to play the games on our own Switch, with no risk of deactivation or overwriting of saves (because she will be using the joint account on her Switch, the "secondary" Switch, for the games and I will be using my own account, which is what I always did anyway).
Perfect.
Both me and one of my daughters have a Switch, and we have a joint account through which I buy games both of us are interested in and then whenever someone wants to play a game from that account, the account is deactivated on one Switch and activated on the other.
Now this will all be trivial for us - the joint account will remain "main" on my Switch, and both of us will be able to play the games on our own Switch, with no risk of deactivation or overwriting of saves (because she will be using the joint account on her Switch, the "secondary" Switch, for the games and I will be using my own account, which is what I always did anyway).
Perfect.
Not strange at all, and they definitely benefit (except with your brother:-)). Nintendo have said multiple times that they want multiple Switches in each household, and this will help them achieve that goal.
This is my understanding of how it works with two people, can anyone correct me if I'm wrong?
Currently:
My Switch is the primary for my account, my brother's Switch is the primary for his account
I can play my games through my account online or offline
I can play my brother's games through his account only and online only and get disconnected if he plays any of his games
He can do the same
If we make each other's systems the primaries for our own accounts:
I can play mine and his games through my account, but online only, and at the same time he is playing one of his games
He can do the same
That sound right?
Currently:
My Switch is the primary for my account, my brother's Switch is the primary for his account
I can play my games through my account online or offline
I can play my brother's games through his account only and online only and get disconnected if he plays any of his games
He can do the same
If we make each other's systems the primaries for our own accounts:
I can play mine and his games through my account, but online only, and at the same time he is playing one of his games
He can do the same
That sound right?
But that would impact double purchases going forward now that it's out in the wild.
Man there is a lot of back and forth in this thread. I will try to lay everything out and explain as easy as I can.
TL:DR yes it is like Xbox and PlayStation.
I have two switches. One is mine, one is my wife's. She hasn't bought a single digital game, only I have.
So last night after this went live, I signed into her switch, which she has set as her primary switch, using my Nintendo Account. I could immediately re-download all my digital games on to her switch.
Her switch is now my switch. (I think this is where the confusion is coming from). I can play all of my games, with my saves after using the cloud save backup (had to do this manually, but still easy to backup and then download on her switch) on her switch. I do need to be online to pass the ownership check, but this isn't any different than Xbox or Playstation.
Similarly, I have now signed her into my primary switch. This is now her switch. She has all of her saves transferred over and can play (and re-download if necessary) any of the games I bought using her own Nintendo account, not mine.
And yes we can both play the same game, at the same time while both being online.
As a last note, either one of us can play physical games on either console offline or online. Nothing changes there. The only thing that has changed is we've essentially swapped switches and she can now play all of my digital games and play all the DLC I've purchased as well.
Maybe, but not everyone will use it like that and the need to be Online is also a sticking point if you use it on the go a lot.
I mean, if it impacted sales a lot, Xbox would have shut it down by now.
The amount of people that don't know about this "tip" is staggering. This was definitely alive and kicking at least at the end of 2014 for Xbox and I thought it was the exact same thing for PS4. I definitely took advantage of this during my console Destiny days.
The main reason why they push this is because they want multiple consoles in the same house hold. Considering local split screen days are numbered, they want each TV to have a console, but they also want to make it easy to play the games you indeed own.
This also benefits them because now you have more incentive to buy digitally where games are full price and there's no manufacturer costs for Nintendo.
The main reason why they push this is because they want multiple consoles in the same house hold. Considering local split screen days are numbered, they want each TV to have a console, but they also want to make it easy to play the games you indeed own.
This also benefits them because now you have more incentive to buy digitally where games are full price and there's no manufacturer costs for Nintendo.
Last edited:
Ah so it's not like the Xbox way then. Damn lol
I think it's big for us who will take advantage of it like this.
But I think their aim is for Families around the home to play their game is different rooms, like when Xbox did this. That's less of a big announcement in my eyes.
Like Xbox mentioned the feature once I feel and then word of mouth spread that "Family Sharing" could be used like this.
I only heard of Game/Family Sharing from Reddit and NG even.
IMO the easiest way for 2 people to use this moving forward is as follows:
- Open a new account. ("SharedAccount")
- Buy all games on "SharedAccount".
- Play the games from "SharedAccount" on its "main" Switch through a different account. ("MySwitchAccount")
- Play the games from "SharedAccount" on the "secondary" Switch using "SharedAccount".
No possible overlap of save data, no possibility of being booted out of a game.
- Open a new account. ("SharedAccount")
- Buy all games on "SharedAccount".
- Play the games from "SharedAccount" on its "main" Switch through a different account. ("MySwitchAccount")
- Play the games from "SharedAccount" on the "secondary" Switch using "SharedAccount".
No possible overlap of save data, no possibility of being booted out of a game.
People are also more prone to buy digital rather than physical (and still share a cart). Also some people will be upsold on their 'own' copy to avoid online annoyances.
I would say there's no obvious loss in this scenario, and if it were a major loss, MS and Sony would have altered rules ageasago.
Looking for an answer as well. I'll share with my brother but only if he can't purchase games using my eShop credit.
Same account, no; different account, yes.
The best way this works is Console A is a primary system. You allow Account B to play on that one. Console B is a secondary system, you let Account A play on that one always online. This way you can have two separate accounts playing the same game at the same time and even both online against each other. Console A being a primary system lets any account on the system play the game. So on that system you don't want the account associated with the primary to be playing on it to maximize how easy it is for two people to play the same game without any conflicts of save data, or being online.
When I tried this last night it didn't seem to work, every time I'd try to get both switches into a lobby I'd get an error and one of them would be booted (only tried with puyo puyo ane shaped and beats though)
Ok, good to know.
It was a long shot after all.
thanks for the info.
it's the exact same as PS4/XB1. Look up a guide for it. I've set this up with my partner and I's switch.
1. Set YOUR account as primary on THEIR Switch.
2. Set THIER account as primary on YOUR Switch.
3. Use your own accounts to play games.
That's it. Both users can use both users' games.
Yeah, I finally feel validated by going full digital. And will continue to do so, and Nintendo will get more money that way. I would only buy one or two games for my wife if I couldnt share, and thouse would be physycal.
Yea, It would've been amazing if it had worked. There are a decent amount of games I'd like to play local coop but don't expect my friends to buy (attack on titan 2). I hope someone finds a loophole or something or I find out I was just doing something wrong.
It's not the exact same, it's close though. On PS4/XB1 both people can play the same game online together. On Switch, you can't.
I think i understand how it works. Most games i would buy one copy anyway... but for some like smash bros/Mario kart... I know my daughter would want her own. And we won't have to deal with "I'm online, you can't play". But this does help me play games on her system that I was not going to play (Kirby!)
I understand the restrictions because if it weren't in place we would have one person allowing 100's of people play games without paying for them.
I understand the restrictions because if it weren't in place we would have one person allowing 100's of people play games without paying for them.
Last edited:
Yes you can. Not with the same account at the same time. That's why you use your own account. That's the whole purpose of making your opposite consoles your primary, so they can use their account to play your games and vice versa.
Ok so two work arounds I found out to not kick my brother off while he's playing one of my games on his Switch:
- Go offline with my Switch. I've made it not connect automatically so if I'm going to play a one player game then I won't forget and accidentally go on.
- Use a different account to play.
- Go offline with my Switch. I've made it not connect automatically so if I'm going to play a one player game then I won't forget and accidentally go on.
- Use a different account to play.
Okay that definitely makes it a bit clearer. I think the issue is just so many people in this thread confidently saying different things do or don't work, it's giving me whiplash.
Thanks bro. You seem like the rational one here so I just want to confirm for the rest of the people reading here that it's exactly like PSN/XBOX
We'll take this scenario as Bob and Steve. Bob owns Switch #1, Steve owns Switch #2
Bob logs into Steve's Account from Switch #1. Bob makes Switch #1 Steve's primary Switch
Steve logs into Bob's Account from Switch #2. Steve makes Switch #2 Bob's primary Switch
Bob and Steve log back into their own accounts.
Bob owns a copy of Mario Kart, but Steve does not. Steve can download Mario Kart by logging into Bob's Account from Switch #2. Steve now has access to Mario Kart.
Steve logs back into his own account.
Bob who is on Switch #1 with Steve's account as primary boots up Mario Kart
Steve, who is on Switch #2 with Bob's account as primary boots up Mario Kart
Bob and Steve can play together.