Catan to disable online multiplayer on Switch
Starting next week, online multiplayer functionality will no longer be accessible in the Switch version of Catan.
The situation is unfortunately a bit out of Asmodee Digital’s control. The sole reason why the feature is going away comes down to GameSparks having its servers shut down. Catan’s online is based around GameSparks, which is an external service provided by Amazon.
All other aspects will still be available, including single-player. Asmodee will also be dropping the price of the game in light of the online multiplayer removal.
The full statement from Asmodee reads:
“On August 4, online multiplayer for CATAN on Nintendo Switch will be disabled, a direct consequence of GameSparks’ servers being shutdown. GameSparks is an external service by Amazon which is essential for the online multiplayer. However, players will still be able to play the game solo. We’ll also lower the price to 14,99 $/€ following this removal. We thank the CATAN community for their support and involvement.”
There’s actually more from Asmodee, as Pandemic will be pulled from the eShop on July 31. The statement regarding that is as follows:
As announced earlier this year, Pandemic will no longer be available on the Nintendo eShop starting July 31. The initial digital game was released 9 years ago, and we no longer feel the current quality and reliability are on par with what Pandemic deserves on digital platforms.
That is why we have progressively removed the current Pandemic games published by Asmodee Digital from all digital stores. However, existing owners will not be impacted: all players who have already purchased the game will still be able to play and download it.
Pandemic will remain available to play online in single-player mode or multiplayer on Board Game Arena. We genuinely thank the Pandemic community for their tremendous support and involvement over the years. Stay tuned!
Catan originally released for Switch in June 2019 and those that are interested in the title can purchase it now on the eShop. Pandemic hit the console in August 2019.
