Nintendo has recently updated its user agreement, introducing stricter policies against unauthorized activities such as hacking the Switch console or running emulators. As reported by Game File, emails have been sent to players informing them of the updates to the Nintendo Account Agreement and the Nintendo Account Privacy Policy, effective as of May 7. These new terms replace all previous versions and apply to both existing and new Nintendo Account users. According to the report, approximately 100 changes have been made to the agreement.

Prior to May 6, the agreement prohibited actions like leasing, renting, sublicensing, publishing, copying, modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any part of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent or unless permitted by law. Now, the updated terms in the U.S. have been expanded to include additional restrictions:

"Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."

In the UK, the terms differ slightly, as noted by Nintendo Life. Users agree that:

"Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. 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. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."

Although Nintendo hasn't clarified the term "unusable," the language implies that they could potentially "brick" your console for rule violations. The updated privacy policy also mentions that Nintendo may monitor online chats on the Switch to ensure a safe and family-friendly environment and to detect violations of the Nintendo Account Agreement and other harmful or illegal interactions.

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These changes may be a response to recent issues, including high-profile piracy cases and the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for June 5. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 started on April 24, with the console priced at $449.99. Demand has been high, leading Nintendo to warn U.S. customers who pre-ordered from the My Nintendo Store that delivery on the release date is not guaranteed. For more details on pre-ordering, check out IGN's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order guide.