Nintendo Switch’s online service could cost $30 a year or less

While you won’t have to pay to play games online with the Nintendo Switch when the system launches March 3, that fee is coming later this year. But Nintendo is now suggesting it won’t charge as much as some of its competitors.

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima told Japanese business newspaper Nikkei that the Nintendo Switch Online service will have an annual fee somewhere between 2,000-to-3,000 yen. That’s equivalent to around $18 to $27 per year for access to online multiplayer, monthly downloadable Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES games, and a smartphone app to manage your friends, parties, and more. If Kimishima sticks to that price range, it’s likely that gamers in the United States will have to pay around $30 per year, which is half the price of Microsoft’s and Sony’s services that cost $60 per year.