The past year and a half has seen Nintendo make their way back into the console market thanks to the successful launch of the Nintendo Switch. When the hybrid console/handheld was released in March 2017, it was missing notable features such as the online service, which was announced to go live sometime after the Switch's release. Following a year-long delay, Nintendo has finally revealed when their online service will be going live for players.

According to NintendoLife, the Nintendo Online service will go live in Europe first on September 18th before making its way to the US the next day, September 19th. At that time, games incorporating online play on Switch will require a subscription to the online service in order to continue playing (non-local) multiplayer games. A number of games currently on Switch depend heavily on their online communities, such as Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate being another AAA title to add to the list when it launches this December.

mario kart 8 deluxe online lobby

For anyone still on the fence about giving the paid service a chance, Nintendo is offering a 7-day free trial for everyone to try out the upcoming features launching next week. Aside from offering access to online play, the service includes the ability to upload cloud saves to transfer to another console, though some games will still exclude the feature. Another feature included is the ability to stream a number of classic titles right to the Switch via the NES Online option. As for the list of classic Nintendo titles that can be streamed onto the system, only ten of the confirmed 30 have been revealed to the public thus far.

These are the only known features of the online service aside from pricing. Thankfully, Nintendo just confirmed the date and time of their Nintendo Direct that was originally scheduled for last week, but was delayed due to a severe earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. The stream is scheduled to last 35 minutes and will include details on upcoming games for both Nintendo Switch and 3DS.

Source: NintendoLife