Nintendo says it could brick Switch systems if users “bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with” their games in updated agreement

Following an update to the Nintendo Account User Agreement, the company has warned that it may brick Switch systems by those who “bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with” their games.

This particular agreement needs to be agreed upon before you can access Nintendo’s various services. These include the Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Switch Online, and games purchased digitally. Basically, unless you’re strictly physical on everything, the agreement is something that you’ll need to sign off on.

Here’s how the agreement looked previously, which was in effect since April 2021:

You are not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo’s written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law.

And the updated version that just went out is as follows:

Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part.

Something else that caught the eye of fans this week is that Nintendo said it may monitor and record chat sessions. Read about that here.

Thanks to Game File for today’s news.