Nintendo confirms Nintendo Network ID hacks across 160,000 Switch accounts

Nintendo has confirmed that approximately 160,000 Nintendo Network ID accounts have been hacked since the beginning of April, following an investigation spurred my multiple reports from Nintendo Switch users of suspicious log ins. 

"This time, using a login ID and password information obtained illegally by some means other than our service, a phenomenon that seems to have been made by impersonating the Nintendo Network ID", explained a translated statement put out by the company on its Support Website earlier today. 

Nintendo Europe have also released a statement via it's support website, reassuring players that "there is currently no evidence pointing towards a breach of Nintendo’s databases, servers or services." You can read that full statement here. 

In response, Nintendo has already abolished the ability to log into a Nintendo account via NNID, and will be resetting passwords for the affected accounts. 

Those that have been hacked will receive an email from Nintendo notifying them of a password reset, with the encouragement to use a different password than the one set up in place beforehand to avoid another potential violation. 

Nintendo also said that the hackers will likely have gained access to the account's private information, including their nickname, date of birth, country / region, email address, and more, though more sensitive details such as payment and security settings appear to have been protected for now. 

Whether you have been affected by this incident or not, it's worth setting up two factor authentication on your Nintendo Switch either way, which makes it close to impossible for cybercriminals to crack into them. Check out our guide on how to enable 2FA on Nintendo Switch for help. 

For more, check out more upcoming PS4 games for 2020 and beyond, or watch our next gen episode of Dialogue Options below.