Nintendo Switch Online is reportedly making its biggest change to the subscription service in years. Since its inception, Nintendo has rarely evolved or improved the subscription service. Some thought this would change with the Nintendo Switch 2, but it didn’t. Unless you count adding additional retro consoles to expand its Classic Games Library — like the N64 or the GameCube — the service is largely the same as when it launched in 2018. Consquently, this means when there is a change, it is more noteworthy.
Digging through the files of recent Nintendo Switch Online updates, one dataminer unearthed something very interesting. According to dataminer Yakumono, the NES, SNES, and Game Boy Nintendo Classics apps, specifically, have been updated with a major version bump. In this update, Nintendo has implemented challenges that the dataminer describes as “akin to NES Remix.” That said, right now, said challenges can not be accessed.
Additional Details on New Nintendo Switch Online Update
Adding to what’s above, the datamine notes that the challenges are only for specific games, not the entire library, but presumably the plan would be to roll out challenges that extend across the entire library in the future. Whatever the case, the dataminer also notes that there are instructions that mention using the NSO Home Menu app to access them, except there is no in-app menu to access them, indicating a work-in-progress that may not be finished yet.
All of this has been pulled straight from the files of the latest Nintendo Switch Online update, following the latest game addition to the subscription service. This is to say, this is not a report or speculation, but just a read of what has been added. However, it should still be taken with a grain of salt because it’s unofficial information at this point. For all we know, this could be the remnants of scrapped work. Further, this could be something Nintendo is working on right now, but it doesn’t mean it will ever see the light of day.
As noted, this new system is similar to NES Remix. For those that do not know what this is, it was an initiative from Nintendo during the Wii U era that featured short, timed challenges using classic NES games available on the console alongside “remixd” content from said games to make the experience unique.
At the moment of publishing, Nintendo has not commented on this apparent NSO leak and the speculation it has created. It does not typically comment on leaks or speculation, so we do not anticipate this changing, but if it does, we will update the story accordingly.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to drop a comment or two with your thoughts on this new leak, or join the video game conversations currently happening on the ComicBook Forum.