When we buy a Nintendo Switch game, we expect the full experience. Yet, for many titles, Nintendo forces us to pay a monthly subscription fee just to access multiplayer features—even when the game uses Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking. As players, we are effectively being charged for infrastructure that Nintendo isn't even providing.

Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) currently requires a subscription for most multiplayer experiences. However, a vast majority of Switch games rely on P2P architecture, where players connect directly to one another. Nintendo isn't hosting these matches on their own dedicated servers; the players are providing the bandwidth and the 'server' power themselves. Charging a premium fee for a service that doesn't utilize centralized server infrastructure is a disconnect between cost and value.

In the modern gaming landscape, other platforms provide robust, high-feature online services. Meanwhile, NSO lacks basic, industry-standard features like integrated voice chat, seamless friend management, and stable netcode, often forcing us to rely on external smartphone apps for basic social coordination. We are paying for a premium service while receiving a legacy-level user experience.

We, the undersigned, call on Nintendo to:

Remove the paywall for multiplayer in games that utilize Peer-to-Peer networking, as these titles do not utilize Nintendo’s server infrastructure.
Commit to Transparency by clearly labeling which games run on dedicated servers versus P2P, so consumers know exactly what they are paying for.
Upgrade the Value Proposition by bringing native voice chat, better netcode, and improved social features to the Switch platform if a subscription fee is to be maintained.
If you believe that paying for 'online' should mean Nintendo provides the infrastructure, please sign this petition. It’s time to move toward a fairer, more transparent model for all Nintendo gamers.