Nintendo just rolled out its new Steam Families-esque feature on Switch 1, allowing you to lend users in your Nintendo Account family group digital games for up to two weeks at a time – but not everyone is particularly happy about what the big system update has done for the console's existing game sharing functionality.
Not to be confused with the local wireless GameShare feature (which is currently unusable until the Switch 2 launches), the Virtual Game Cards system gives you flexibility to move your digital games between different consoles, replicating the freedom a physical game cartridge offers. It can be used to freely move games between two different systems with the same linked Nintendo Account, as well as to temporarily allow family group members to borrow them from you.
There are certain restrictions in place, however: when someone is borrowing one of your games, you can't play it yourself; one person is unable to borrow more than one game from you at the same time; and you can't lend more than three games out simultaneously.
It's that first point that seems to be proving problematic to users who've been using a different method to share digital games up to this point.
As highlighted on Reddit, up until very recently, a page on Nintendo's official Customer Support site explained how players could simultaneously play a single digital game across two different consoles.
It's a bit complicated, but let's imagine two roommates with two Switch consoles. The first roommate owns Splatoon 3, but for both of them to play that single copy at the same time, they link their Nintendo Account to the second roommate's Switch console. That second device (the one that didn't have the game originally) must then be set as the first roommate's "primary console."
After that, and making sure Splatoon 3 is downloaded, both people could play the game online at the exact same time on their different, respective accounts. The whole thing hinges on making sure the one who didn't own the game first is assigned as the "primary console" owner.
It almost sounds like an exploit, but obviously it's not since Nintendo literally gave instructions on how to do it. But at some point since April 24, when the page was last archived via the Wayback Machine, this section has been removed in place of the instructions on lending Virtual Game Cards. What's more, players are now reporting that the old method no longer works as it did before.
"It works mainly the same, but we can't play the same game at the same time anymore," one post writes, explaining that they'd always used that same method to share games with their sister. "We can play different games at the same time."
"Just yesterday I was able to play a game with my husband. Today we can't play it together," says another. "And if you add kids into it? This is a logistical headache that's entirely unnecessary."
Others have reported that there's still a workaround if you're willing to play offline, with one alleging: "I just tested it. It still works if you have the primary console on plane mode (or disconnected from the internet overall). But playing online at the same time using the same software can no longer be done."
Therefore, anyone wanting to use it to play something like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online together is apparently out of luck.
Given that this was an officially supported feature before, it's not clear if this could be a mistake, but if so, it's unusual that Nintendo no longer appears to offer any guidance on how to do it.
The Switch 2 is right around the corner – be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming Switch 2 games to see what's on the way to Nintendo's new console.
