Nintendo Switch Online Start Date Confirmed, 7-Day Trial Announced

Nintendo has finally confirmed that online services for Switch will be available from September 18 in America and September 19 in the UK. Additionally, people will be able to sign up for a free seven-day trial on the Eshop at launch. As previously detailed, the service gives subscribers the ability to play games online, enjoy a library of NES titles that'll be regularly updated, and back up some save data to the cloud.

Memberships can be purchased for one, three, and 12 month increments for $3.99 / £3.49, $7.99 / £6.99, and $19.99 / £17.99 respectively. These options are one per Nintendo Account holder; a family membership is also available for $34.99 / £31.49, and this allows up to seven others to benefit from the Nintendo Switch Online service.

On September 11 it was reported that not all Switch titles will support cloud saves, with some big titles such as Pokemon, Let's Go Pikachu!/Eevee, Dark Souls Remastered, Dead Cells, FIFA 19, and NBA 2K19, and Splatoon 2 not including the ability to back up data.

Further details about the Nintendo Switch Online service will be provided during a Direct event being held on September 13. This event was originally announced for September 6, but was delayed after a powerful earthquake hit Hokkaido. During the rescheduled Direct Nintendo will also discuss more information about upcoming Nintendo Switch and 3DS titles.

The Direct is expected to last around 35 minutes, which indicates it will feature a few announcements and trailers. Nintendo says the broadcast will focus on upcoming titles for both Switch and 3DS, but beyond that no further details have been revealed.

The Direct begins at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET in North America, while the stream will start at 11 PM BST in Europe. It'll be available to watch on Nintendo's official website and Twitch channel, and GameSpot will also have a stream of the presentation, so you can see it and read all the news from it here.