Nintendo Switch Online

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: needs information on features offered by Nintendo Switch Online, features available with the Nintendo Switch Pokémon Games

The contents of this article have been suggested to be split into Nintendo Classics. Please discuss it on the talk page for this article.

Nintendo Switch Online
The Nintendo Switch Online logo.
Provider	Nintendo
Launched	September 19, 2018
Shutdown	N/A
Service provided	Online Wireless Communications
Accessible by	Internet
Website	nintendo.com/switch/online-service

Nintendo Switch Online (Japanese: Nintendo Switch Online) is a service run by Nintendo that allows users to be matched up with other players and play games with each other. It is used by games for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and the Nintendo Switch 2. It is the successor to the Nintendo Network service. It is the first service by Nintendo that requires the user to pay a subscription fee in order to allow players to use online functionality with games, such as online multiplayer and user created content. The service also offers a selection of classic games to play, along with a selection of other benefits.

The service first launched on September 19, 2018, and on October 25, 2021, the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack launched. This allowed access to a selection of classic Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games, and other extra benefits, for an additional fee.

Cost

Generally, a 7-day free trial can be used once for Nintendo Switch Online. After it expires, Nintendo occasionally restores access to the free trial to all players whose free trial has already expired. No free trial is offered for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

Features

Friend Codes

Main article: Friend Code

The Nintendo Switch Online service allocates a Friend Code to every user on the service, generated during the creation of the account. It is used to identify other players on online play along, albeit is not the only method unlike predecessors. This feature was also used for the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and on the Nintendo 3DS's online connectivity.

Nintendo Classics service

Previous generations of Nintendo consoles have featured classic games via the Virtual Console. For the Nintendo Switch, this was replaced by apps for the console that included a growing library of NES and SNES games, exclusively available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. The Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, launched October 25, 2021, added apps for Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games (for an additional fee). Both tiers of the subscription received new apps on February 8, 2023: Game Boy (including Game Boy Color) for the base service and Game Boy Advance for the Expansion Pack.

As of the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025, games from the Nintendo GameCube have also become available to anyone with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack and a Nintendo Switch 2 system. The service and app names themselves have also been rebranded into "Nintendo Classics". All previous Nintendo Classics titles from Nintendo Switch are playable on Switch 2.

Pokémon games

• Pokémon Snap was added to the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics app on June 24, 2022.
• Pokémon Puzzle League was added to the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics app on July 15, 2022.
• Pokémon Stadium was added to the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics app on April 12, 2023. Pokémon Stadium 2 was added on August 8 of that year. They are not able to connect to the Game Boy games or the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console games.
• Pokémon Trading Card Game was added to the Game Boy - Nintendo Classics app on August 8, 2023.
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team was added to the Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Classics app on August 9, 2024.
• Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness will be added to the Nintendo GameCube - Nintendo Classics app at unknown dates.

Nintendo Music

Main article: Nintendo Music

Launched on October 30, 2024, Nintendo Music is a music streaming app for Android and iOS that features songs from select Nintendo games. An active Nintendo Switch Online subscription is necessary to use it.

Missions & Rewards

Missions & Rewards were added on March 1st, 2022 within the Nintendo Switch Online app on the Nintendo Switch's HOME Menu. This feature gave Nintendo Switch Online subscribers a new method of earning Platinum Points (which previously could only be earned on the My Nintendo website) by completing missions, but also included a Rewards page where Platinum Points could be redeemed for exclusive icon elements for their Nintendo Switch profile. Rewards are only available for a limited-time distribution period; during this period, rewards will rotate on a weekly schedule. Previously available icon elements may become available once again at a later date.

There are three types of icon elements:

• Character elements, which cost 10. Certain character elements come with a set background that cannot be changed, which prevents them from being used alongside background elements as well as the default Nintendo Switch background colors.
• Background elements, which cost 5. Character elements appear in front of background elements. Background elements cannot be used without a character element.
• Frame elements, which cost 5. Frame elements surround background and character elements. A selection of solid color frames are available by default and can be used alongside any icon element that was purchased with Platinum Points.

Icon elements cannot be used alongside other elements from different games. For example, a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet character element cannot be used together with a Detective Pikachu Returns background element. Icon elements can be redeemed in any region, with the exception of the MOTHER3 icon element set that was distributed from March 7, 2024 to March 13, 2024, which could only be redeemed by accounts that had their region set to Japan during the distribution period. Additionally, a new category of icon element called Play & Redeem was introduced on March 4, 2024, first used for the Super Mario World icon element set. Play & Redeem icon element sets require the user to play the corresponding software, sometimes on multiple days, in order to be eligible to redeem the icon elements.

Pokémon series icon elements

Character elements that were previously made available are marked with an asterisk (*). Icon elements not in rotation from November 25, 2024 onwards were not named within the application—unofficial names for those elements are used below for convenience.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (November 18 – December 25, 2022) Wave 1 (November 18 – 24, 2022) Characters Koraidon (Character with Background) Miraidon (Character with Background) Sprigatito Fuecoco Quaxly Florian Juliana Florian Juliana Backgrounds Frames Wave 2 (November 24 – December 1, 2022) Characters Armarouge (Character with Background) Ceruledge (Character with Background) Nemona Arven Penny Jacq Lechonk Smoliv Fidough Pawmi Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds Frames Wave 3 (December 1 – 8, 2022) Characters Clavell (Character with Background) Clavell (Character with Background) Geeta Grusha Male Team Star Grunt (Character with Background) Female Team Star Grunt (Character with Background) Paldean Wooper Wiglett Cyclizar Grafaiai Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds Frames Wave 4 (December 8 – 15, 2022) Characters Iono Brassius Mela Bellibolt Cetitan Greavard Gimmighoul (Chest Form) Rotom Phone Klawf Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds Frames Wave 5 (December 15 – 25, 2022) Characters Professor Sada (Character with Background) Professor Turo (Character with Background) Pikachu Eevee Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon*(Character with Background) Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. (August 8 – September 17, 2023) Wave 1 (August 8 – 15, 2023) Characters Mew Mewtwo Pikachu* Eevee* Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon* (Character with Background) Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 2 (August 15 – 22, 2023) Characters All character elements were previously made available. Professor Sada* (Character with Background) Professor Turo* (Character with Background) Clavell* (Character with Background) Clavell* (Character with Background) Nemona* Arven* Penny* Jacq* Mew* Mewtwo* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 3 (August 22 – 29, 2023) Characters Rika Poppy Larry Hassel Iono* Geeta* Grusha* Mew* Mewtwo* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 4 (August 29 – September 5, 2023) Characters Ogerpon (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Gimmighoul* (Chest Form) Armarouge* (Character with Background) Ceruledge* (Character with Background) Lechonk* Smoliv* Fidough* Mew* Mewtwo* Backgrounds Frames Wave 5 (September 5 – 12, 2023) Characters All character elements were previously made available. Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon* (Character with Background) Florian* Juliana* Florian* Juliana* Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Mew* Mewtwo* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 6 (September 12 – 17, 2023) Characters All character elements were previously made available. Pikachu* Eevee* Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon* (Character with Background) Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Mew* Mewtwo* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. (December 7, 2023 - January 18, 2024) Wave 1 (December 7 – 14, 2023) Characters Terapagos (Character with Background) Carmine Poltchageist Kieran Dipplin Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Iono* Bellibolt* Cetitan* Grusha* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 2 (December 14 – 21, 2023) Characters Florian Juliana Archaludon Brassius* Mela* Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Terapagos* (Character with Background) Carmine* Poltchageist* Kieran* Dipplin* Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 3 (December 21 – 28, 2023) Characters Florian Juliana Okidogi Munkidori Fezandipiti Male Team Star Grunt* (Character with Background) Female Team Star Grunt* (Character with Background) Armarouge* (Character with Background) Ceruledge* (Character with Background) Florian* Juliana* Archaludon* Terapagos* (Character with Background) Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 4 (December 28, 2023 – January 4, 2024) Characters Lacey Crispin Amarys Drayton Rika* Poppy* Larry* Hassel* Pikachu* Eevee* Rotom Phone* Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Florian* Juliana* Okidogi* Munkidori* Fezandipiti* Terapagos* (Character with Background) Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 5 (January 4 – 11, 2024) Characters Sinistcha Ursaluna (Bloodmoon Beast) Briar Perrin Klawf* Paldean Wooper* Cyclizar* Grafaiai* Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon* (Character with Background) Lacey* Crispin* Amarys* Drayton* Terapagos* (Character with Background) Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 6 (January 11 – 18, 2024) Characters Raging Bolt (Character with Background) Iron Crown (Character with Background) Cyrano Pikachu* Eevee* Greavard* Wiglett* Pawmi* Koraidon* (Character with Background) Miraidon* (Character with Background) Sinistcha* Ursaluna* (Bloodmoon Beast) Briar* Perrin* Terapagos* (Character with Background) Ogerpon* (Teal Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. (November 18, 2024 – January 6, 2025) Wave 1 (November 18 – 25, 2024) Characters Shiny Rayquaza (Character with Background) Ogerpon (Terastallized) (Character with Background) Kieran (Character with Background) Carmine (Character with Background) Terapagos (Stellar Form) (Character with Background) Ogerpon (Character with Background) Ogerpon (Wellspring Mask) (Character with Background) Ogerpon (Hearthflame Mask) (Character with Background) Ogerpon (Cornerstone Mask) (Character with Background) Terapagos* (Character with Background) Carmine* Kieran* Terapagos* (Terastal Form) (Character with Background) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 2 (November 25 – December 2, 2024) Characters Poppy (Character with Background) Hassel (Character with Background) Crispin (Character with Background) Lacey (Character with Background) Tinkaton Corviknight Baxcalibur Blaziken Excadrill Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Lacey* Crispin* Poppy* Hassel* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 3 (December 2 – 9, 2024) Characters Rika (Character with Background) Larry (Character with Background) Amarys (Character with Background) Drayton (Character with Background) Clodsire Flamigo Metagross Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Amarys* Drayton* (Character with Background) Archaludon* Rika* Larry* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 4 (December 9 – 16, 2024) Characters Geeta (Character with Background) Clive (Character with Background) Clive (Character with Background) Glimmora Kingambit Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Cyrano* Clavell* (Character with Background) Clavell* (Character with Background) Geeta* Sprigatito* Fuecoco* Quaxly* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 5 (December 16 – 23, 2024) Characters Nemona (Character with Background) Nemona (Character with Background) Carmine (Character with Background) Kieran (Character with Background) Pecharunt (Character with Background) Pawmot Meowscarada Quaquaval Skeledirge Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Okidogi* Munkidori* Fezandipiti* Nemona* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 6 (December 23 – 30, 2024) Characters Koraidon (Character with Background) Miraidon (Character with Background) Arven (Character with Background) Arven (Character with Background) Mabosstiff Dondozo Tatsugiri (Curly Form) Tatsugiri (Droopy Form) Tatsugiri (Stretchy Form) Pecharunt* (Character with Background) Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Klawf* Arven* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 7 (December 30, 2024 – January 6, 2025) Characters Pecharunt (Character with Background) Penny (Character with Background) Penny (Character with Background) Team Star (Character with Background) Sylveon Charcadet Revavroom Pecharunt* (Character with Background) Shiny Rayquaza* (Character with Background) Pikachu* Eevee* Mela* Penny* Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available.

Detective Pikachu Returns (September 28 – October 26, 2023) Wave 1 (September 28 – October 5, 2023) Characters Detective Pikachu (thinking) Detective Pikachu (with magnifying glass) Detective Pikachu (waving) Detective Pikachu (shrugging) Detective Pikachu (leaping) Backgrounds Frames Wave 2 (October 5 – 12, 2023) Characters Detective Pikachu (laughing) Detective Pikachu (dejected) Growlithe Ducklett Detective Pikachu (silhouette) Detective Pikachu* (thinking) Detective Pikachu* (with magnifying glass) Detective Pikachu* (waving) Detective Pikachu* (shrugging) Detective Pikachu* (leaping) Backgrounds Frames Wave 3 (October 12 – 19, 2023) Characters Detective Pikachu (frustrated) Detective Pikachu (cheering) Galarian Darmanitan Slowpoke Detective Pikachu (portrait) Detective Pikachu* (thinking) Detective Pikachu* (with magnifying glass) Detective Pikachu* (waving) Detective Pikachu* (shrugging) Detective Pikachu* (leaping) Backgrounds Frames Wave 4 (October 19 – 26, 2023) Characters Detective Pikachu (crossing arms) Detective Pikachu (sleeping) Luxray Pangoro Detective Pikachu (stamp) Detective Pikachu* (thinking) Detective Pikachu* (with magnifying glass) Detective Pikachu* (waving) Detective Pikachu* (shrugging) Detective Pikachu* (leaping) Backgrounds Frames (December 28 – 29, 2023 and January 4 – 5, 2024) Wave 1 (December 28 – 29, 2023) Characters All character elements were previously made available. Detective Pikachu* (frustrated) Detective Pikachu* (cheering) Galarian Darmanitan* Slowpoke* Detective Pikachu* (portrait) Ducklett* Detective Pikachu* (silhouette) Detective Pikachu* (with magnifying glass) Detective Pikachu* (waving) Detective Pikachu* (shrugging) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available. Wave 2 (January 4 – 5, 2024) Characters All character elements were previously made available. Detective Pikachu* (crossing arms) Detective Pikachu* (sleeping) Luxray* Pangoro* Detective Pikachu* (stamp) Detective Pikachu* (laughing) Detective Pikachu* (dejected) Growlithe* Detective Pikachu* (thinking) Detective Pikachu* (leaping) Backgrounds All background elements were previously made available. Frames All frame elements were previously made available.

Games compatible with Nintendo Switch Online

The following Pokémon games are compatible with the Nintendo Switch Online service.

• Pokkén Tournament DX
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
• Pokémon Sword and Shield
• New Pokémon Snap
• Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus
• Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Game functionality

Pokkén Tournament DX

• Online battles require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• Online play requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription

Core series games

• A Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to trade and battle online

New Pokémon Snap

• A Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to share photos online and compete in global leaderboard rankings (such as total Photodex score)

This article is part of Project Mass Media, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on official Pokémon publishing, broadcasting, communications, and other media.