Nintendo Switch Online has exceeded 9.8 million global accounts, according to a financial briefing from Nintendo, released on Friday.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa reported on the outlook for the company for the fiscal year ending in March 2020, and cited the number of memberships to Nintendo Switch Online as a sign of growth. Worldwide, the number of accounts is not far off from 10 million, and the number excludes free trial memberships. It does include family memberships. Membership hit 8 million subscribers back in February.
Nintendo Switch Online launched in September of 2018, and has thus experienced rapid growth in its first six months.
A Nintendo Switch Online membership costs $4 per month and is discounted to $8 for three-month subscriptions. It’s $20 for a full year. Family memberships, which offers support for seven users, are $35 per year.
A membership allows for online play, and also comes with perks like Save Data Cloud backup for some games.
One of the factors that may have led to Nintendo Switch Online’s success is the free game offer with membership for “Tetris 99,” a battle royale version of the classic game “Tetris” in which 99 players compete against each other. Nintendo wants to further encourage the popularity of this title.
“We plan to implement in-game events to encourage consumers to keep enjoying the game,” Furukawa said during the financial briefing.
Nintendo Switch Online members also get free NES games to play, including “Donkey Kong” and “Dr. Mario.” This could also be a factor consumers consider when purchasing a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
“Through these initiatives,” Furukawa said, “We are working to make these services more attractive over the long-term on Nintendo Switch Online.”
Currently, Twitch Prime members can get up to one year of free membership of Nintendo Switch Online.
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