How to Create a Family Group for Nintendo Switch Online

The official debut  Nintendo Switch Online is coming , and brings two interesting options: the individual account or g roup family . What is it about?

This option, available since  May 15th , allows up to  eight accounts to associate as members of the same family and, soon, share their Nintendo Switch Online subscription. The nice thing is that while the individual subscription would cost  € 19.99  per year (although there will be the option of monthly or quarterly payments), the Family Group would pay a total of  € 34.99 . So if eight people share a subscription, the total would be around  € 4.40 per capita per year! This is a considerable saving, especially if you are a penniless university student .

We don’t tell you about balls.

So how do you create a family group? The procedure is simple, as our friends from Nintendo Life explain  :

Note:  As the Nintendo Italy site has not yet been updated, some terms are based on those of Nintendo of America, the Italian site may differ slightly.

1. Create Nintendo Account

First of all, those who do not have a Nintendo Account yet, must have one in order to be part of a family group. Here are the steps required for this:

1. Access Nintendo eShop from Nintendo Switch (or any other application);
2. Select the Switch user who will be the primary holder of the Nintendo Account;
3. Select “Create account”;
4. Enter the e-mail address;
5. Open the email on a computer or mobile device;
6. Choose whether to create the account for yourself or for a child under 16;
7. Fill in the form and submit it;
8. Return to the Switch and enter the confirmation code;
9. Select continue and set the password;
10. Finished!

2. Invite members to the family group

Here is the crucial part: whoever wants to be the administrator of the family group can follow these steps to add up to 7 other people.

1. Log into your Nintendo Account  from your PC or mobile and select “Family Group” in the left menu;
2. Click “Add a member”;
3. Click “Invite to family group”;
4. Enter the email associated with the Nintendo Account you want to add to the group;
5. The person concerned will receive an e-mail, from which he can access the family group.

Now, by signing up for Nintendo Switch Online it will be possible to select the family subscription.

3. Change the family group administrator

It is also possible to change the group administrator, in a simple way:

1. Log into your Nintendo Account via PC or mobile;
2. Click “Family group”;
3. Select “Family group settings”;
4. Click “Change family group administrator”;
5. Click “Submit”;
6. Open the e-mail sent by Nintendo and enter the confirmation code;
7. Click “Submit”;
8. Click “Select this person” on the member of the family group you want to make the new administrator;
9. Click “Confirm changes”;
10. The new administrator will have to accept the assignment via the email sent to him by Nintendo.

4. Remove a member from the family group

If someone is on you … er, if you want to remove a person from the family group, these are the steps to follow:

1. Log into your Nintendo Account on a computer or mobile phone;
2. Click “Family group”;
3. Go to “Family group settings”;
4. Click “Remove family group member”;
5. Select the person to remove;

Only an administrator can remove a member from the family group.

We hope this guide will help you save some money to play Dr. Mario and Balloon Fight online. At Salvatore Aranzulla that’s all, see you next time!

UPDATE:  Here’s the next one! Since even after the Direct some news is not entirely clear, a thread appeared on  Reddit of someone who took the trouble to read the info from the Japanese Nintendo site and translate it for us gaijin. Here are some of the issues that troubled the brains of many:

Regarding Family Membership

• A user cannot belong to more than one family group;
• If Parental Controls were activated before May 14, 2018, it will automatically apply to all members of the family group;
• It is possible to designate an account as a “ guardian account “, which can control the parental controls. There can be only one administrator, but also more than one guardian;
• Members of a family group do not share MyNintendo points, eShop funds and purchase history;
• A family group can have accounts associated with different Switch consoles ;
• If any member of the family group signs up for Nintendo Switch Online family membership, all members of the group will be able to enjoy it.

About the admin account

• You can invite other accounts to your family group;
• If the administrator is over 18, he can create child accounts;
• If the administrator is of age, he can appoint any other adult member as a guardian;
• By accessing the Settings, the administrator can delegate his role to someone else, or remove members from the group.

If the administrator renounces his role:

• He will no longer have administrator privileges (he will, however, retain any guardian privileges he had before the waiver);
• All family members, including the ex-administrator himself, will end up under the new administrator;
• It will no longer be possible to change the ID and passwords of child accounts;
• It will no longer be possible to add or remove child accounts;
• You will no longer receive email information on child account purchases (which will go to the new admin).

Questions and answers

Q: What happens if the administrator deletes their account ?

A: The family group will cease to exist, all accounts will no longer be part of a family, and Parental Controls will stop working. If child accounts have been created in the family, they will be deleted together with the administrator. The only way to prevent this is to delegate the administration to someone else (see above). If you contact Nintendo within 30 days of canceling your account, you will be able to recover it.

Q: My family has more than one Switch console . If we buy the Family Membership, will all the accounts of the various Switches receive the Online?

A: Yes. Even if family members use separate consoles , if all accounts used are part of the same family, all users can use Nintendo Switch Online.

Q: I have to be of legal age to purchase the Family Membership, are there any age restrictions for the other members of the group?

A: No. The purchase must be made by someone with a Nintendo Account and over 18, but group members can be of any age. They will be able to access all aspects of Nintendo Switch Online, with the exception of the smartphone app, which is limited to those over 13.

UPDATE 2 (September 20):  Now that Nintendo Switch Online is finally out, there is one last thing we warn you to take into consideration: when you take the free trial,  the automatic renewal will be active . That is, reporting the words of the Nintendo site:

If automatic renewal is on, your membership will be renewed through the automatic purchase of a 1 month (30 day) individual membership after the 7-day free trial expires. If you don’t want to purchase a membership, you can end the automatic renewal during the free trial period. By doing so, you will not be charged any amount.

To stop the automatic renewal just follow these steps:

1. Access the  System Settings(the icon that looks like a sun) from the Switch menu;
2. Go to  Userand select the user who activated the test;
3. Select  Check your Nintendo eShop membership status;
4. From the eShop page that opens, it will be possible to deactivate automatic renewal.