Can Nintendo brick your Switch?

Alternatively, if you’re interested in reading about our first-hand experience with the Switch 2, make sure to check out ‘I spent a day playing the Switch 2 and Nintendo has answered all my biggest concerns’. 

Can Nintendo brick your Switch? 

Yes, Nintendo has adjusted its user agreement to warn users that failing to comply with specific terms may render their Switch “unusable”. This means that, as of May 7 2025, Nintendo can effectively opt to brick your Switch if it deems you’ve broken its User Agreement. These changes were first spotted by Game File. 

The updated entry differs in the US and the UK, but in both regions the consequences appear to be the same. 

More specifically, the updated section in the US User Agreement reads:

“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”. 

While the changes in the UK User Agreement state: 

“Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE’s written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable.” (via NintendoLife) 

These changes are likely part of Nintendo’s growing efforts to crack down on emulators, but Nintendo’s ability to render a console you’ve paid for unusable will doubtless raise concerns among Switch gamers – especially with the rising cost of games and the Switch 2 launch just around the corner.