Nintendo threatens to brick Switch consoles in crackdown on emulators, hacks, and piracy

Nintendo

Nintendo has updated its user agreement with language that explicitly threatens to render consoles or services “unusable” for anyone caught modifying their devices, running emulators, or pirating software — a clear escalation in its long-running war on unauthorised use.

As first reported by Game File, players recently received emails from Nintendo asking them to accept an updated Nintendo Account Agreement in order to continue using online features like the eShop or Nintendo Switch Online. The agreement now includes over 100 edits, with one key section drawing attention for its aggressive stance on console hacking and software manipulation.

The revised clause prohibits any unauthorized publishing, modification, reverse engineering, or circumvention of Nintendo’s services. The kicker: Nintendo explicitly reserves the right to “render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part” if users breach these terms.

This move comes on the heels of Nintendo’s legal takedown of Yuzu, the popular Switch emulator project, which was shut down in early 2024. While the upcoming Switch 2 is reportedly backward-compatible via official emulation, Nintendo has made it clear that it wants total control over how and where its software runs — and that fan-made emulation, however technically impressive, is unwelcome.

The UK version of the user agreement is slightly less severe, stating that unauthorized use “may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable,” though it stops short of explicitly threatening console bricking.

In a related update, Nintendo also revised its privacy policy, adding that it may monitor online voice chats to detect violations — another step aimed at enforcing its “family-friendly” platform vision.

Whether this legal tightening will curb unauthorized mods or provoke further backlash remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Nintendo is playing hardball.