Nintendo Switch Cloud Backups: Peace Of Mind For $3.99 Per Month

I was beginning to worry that Nintendo Switch owners would need to resort to unofficial homebrewed solutions to back up their precious save data, but Nintendo will finally deliver some peace of mind this September when the Switch Online Service launches.

Despite its success, this has been a contentious oversight since the Switch launched. The average player has easily put hundreds -- very possibly thousands -- of hours into sprawling epics like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the dizzying selection of quality indie titles on the console. If it gets destroyed, bricked by a 3rd party accessory or otherwise has its save data corrupted, you're losing more than progress. You're losing your time.

Nintendo Switch pictured with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

We live in a world where you can tap two phones together and initiate a complete migration of your data from old to new device. That a method for moving your save data off the Switch will land some 17 months after its launch is both perplexing and a huge wave of relief.

If you haven't caught the news yet, Nintendo's Switch Online Service will arrive in September and bring with it 20 classic Switch-enhanced titles (still no word about Virtual Console, but at least we'll have packages like SEGA AGES to tide us over), online multiplayer functionality and the ability to back up "most" of your game saves to the cloud. It will cost $3.99 per month, or $19.99 annually.

We expected this. It may be jarring to go from playing Splatoon 2 or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online for free to paying a small monthly fee, but personally that's not what I'll be paying for. I'll be paying for peace of mind that all the time I've invested will hopefully be safe and secure on Nintendo's cloud servers. And I'm willing to bet the majority of other Switch players will too, even if they don't care about any of the additional perks the Switch Online Service brings.

It may sound ridiculous, but this is the main selling point in my eyes. The 20 classic games enhanced with online play? The wonky app-based voice chat? Online multiplayer? Just bonuses complimenting a feature I will feel forced to buy into. Because time and peace of mind are both very valuable things.

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