Hi Angel - essentially how it works is only on digital or download games from the Nintendo eShop If you buy a download game, it's under your Nintendo account You can then play the same game on two Switch consoles (not running at the same time, of course!) Any *other user* on the primary console can play the download games you've downloaded on that Switch as a primary Switch doesn't check who owns the game The person who owns the game can play that same game on the second Switch console For example: - Mario owns Mario Kart 8 - Mario plays Mario Kart 8 on the *secondary* Switch - Luigi plays Mario Kart 8 on the *primary* Switch That's how game sharing works - it is definitely fiddly but it does work :)
@@KirilPetrov65 it does run at the same time - you’ll need to make sure the owner of the game is running the game on a secondary switch and a different user is using primary ☺️
@@TeeChu will it work without internet connection. Me and my brother wants to play battle for neighborville on our switch without internet. So if i have the game and he has the primary switch he can download the game on the secondary and we can play toghether. And is the secondary switch gonna have any disadvantages. Hope you understand
@@InzanePug Unfortunately it won't work without internet connection, no The primary Switch can play offline without any issues, though But the secondary will need an online connection to launch the game (as it checks ownership on the secondary Switch) If you want to play together (as in multiplayer) you'll need online play with this method as local offline / wireless play isn't supported
Bro I just did it this way and my kids both playing splatoon 3 online with 2 different consoles I thought you couldn't, but it works !!! Thank you so much
This is totally how it works I will say from experience, also he is definitely not overcomplicating it it's just that confusing and he actually explained it really well
So basically the owner of all the games should use the second profile on the 1st switch. The second person should use the profile that bought the games?
Not quite ! So the owner of the games should use a *secondary* Switch, not secondary profile Any one who isn't the owner should use the primary Switch, but their own account :) So for example: Mario = Owner Luigi = Sharing Mario has account on both Switch consoles and downloads games from their own account Luigi can play Mario's games on a Primary switch as it doesn't check for ownership Mario would be the only person who can play Mario's games on the Secondary Switch as it does check for ownership Hope that makes sense!
@@TeeChu yes! Although I want to know how does this work with Pokémon. Since all those game don’t sync up with cloud save data. Does all save data follow the profiles it’s tied to? Like my OG switch is going to have to use another profile while my new OLED is going to have to use my OG’s profile. Does all the save data move to the OLED now? Or is there a better way to share games digitally since I want to play two different games. Sword on one switch and shield on the other
@@eclipses3131Good question! So with any shared game, each user (e.g. Mario / Luigi in this example) has completely separate save files So you can transfer Pokemon save data from Switch to Switch if needed :) Have a little video for that too! ruclips.net/video/5pnA6LxEg_s/видео.html
So Mario puts his account on the second switch and makes that switch the main switch so Luigi can play Mario’s games. And Mario has his account on his switch and can still play his own games and they can play at the same time
why do I see over 20 people on RUclips and even from little as a few months ago saying its impossible to do this... I have a account I wanna share games with my wife and play animal crossing with her at the sometime online..
Hey Sean! Definitely still works - my partner and I play online together and separately no problem, most recently played Mario Kart a couple weeks back - all you need to do is make sure the switch primary/secondary is set correctly For AC specifically - the person who owns the game should ideally setup their island on a secondary Switch (eg you in this example), the person who is sharing would use the Primary Switch to play (eg your wife) Hope that helps! If anyone is posting videos about game sharing not working, well, they’re misinformed! 😉
Thank you for this clear explanation! I have been trying for *months* (not kidding) to figure out how to share my digital copy of ACNH between my two switches so I could visit each of my islands and share items and bells back and forth. I made a second account on my secondary switch, bought a family plan for NSO, but I still couldn't play the game on that account. Thanks to your video and clear instructions. I now know I need to make my Lite the primary Switch (especially since it's my travel Switch; my ACNH special edition one stays at home). Finally, I can visit each of my islands!
No worries! Happy to help - however don't forget you'll need to use an extra user to open the gates on the primary island, and likewise use that secondary user to fly over to your secondary island if that makes sense :) My partner and I use that technique at the moment and it works well!
Nope! Shouldn’t be an issue - what I recommend is creating your account on the OLED and downloading the games you need on there Then deactivating your switch (on the eshop), and then logging into the eShop on the new OLED Switch to make it primary :)
I have found a much easier solution which does not require any de-registering of the primary switch - it won’t work for games you have already purchased, but will work for future purchases - So Mario has the primary switch, Luigi is also a user on Mario’s switch, Luigi purchases a game using his profile on Mario’s switch. Because it was purchased on the primary switch, Mario can also play it as any user can play a game bought on the primary switch. But because the game was purchased by Luigi, he can also download and play the game on the secondary switch because the game is linked to his profile - I tried this with a cheap $1.60 game on my primary switch and my sons switch lite - and it worked - and also allows the game to play on both switches at the same time under different profiles - no need to mess around with de-linking the primary switch
Interesting! De-registering is entirely *optional* and only used when you want a different Switch to be Primary - e.g. if you've got a new console etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but can Mario play Luigi's game on the *secondary* Switch? E.g. Luigi's purchased game, can any *other* user play it on that secondary Switch? If so, that would be a huge game changer. My gut feeling is that it's working because Luigi has a secondary Switch and owns the game, but I wonder if Mario - who doesn't own the game - can play Luigi's game on the secondary Switch? In theory it should check ownership on the Secondary, so I'm intrigued The reason it's working like you've described is like how I've described it in the video - Primary consoles allow any user to play any game. Secondary consoles, in theory, should only allow the owner to play (in this example, Luigi) The way I normally suggest it is for one user to buy all the games (e.g. Luigi) and that user would use the secondary Switch (as it checks ownership) - and any other user to use the Primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership on that Switch But if your method works, then that's a huge game changer!
@@TeeChu so I haven’t tried using Mario’s profile on the secondary switch - my situation is that my switch (primary) is the family switch. There are 5 user profiles all linked to my family membership. This switch has everyone’s games and save files etc all for their individual profiles. One of my sons also has a switch lite - which is just his. He only has his profile on it and no one else uses it. So it doesn’t make sense for me to de-link my switch and make his the primary one. As I think that would mess up everyone else who also uses the main switch - so it seems with this method I can keep my main switch the “primary” switch and still share purchases with my son as long as I purchase the game on the primary switch under his profile.
@@michaelbotting806 Gotcha - that makes sense for what you need That's pretty much the same setup / solution as the video - the reason it works is that the secondary Switch checks ownership, and the primary doesn't So if you tried Mario on that secondary Switch, it won't work as Luigi owns the game Luigi can purchase the game on any Switch - to be honest it's not because you've purchased it on Primary, but because Luigi owns the game, so can play it on any Switch Likewise if you had a third Switch with Wario as a user, they could purchase games on any Switch and play it on their own AND share it with the Primary switch Mario, and any other user, can play anyone's games on the Primary switch because it doesn't check ownership :) Primary = doesn't check Secondary = checks So ya, whatever works for you and it makes sense to keep your setup as it is :) But in any case, there isn't a need to deregister - it's entirely optional.
@@TeeChu yeah that makes a lot of sense - so basically the golden rule is that if you are the primary user and you want to share a purchase with the secondary user - just purchase the game under the name of the secondary user - and then both can play without de-linking any switches. - my partner also has her own switch (we have 3 in the house) - so if she bought a game and she is a user on my switch - we will be able to play it at the same time on both our switches under our own profiles 🙂
Good question! I've got a family membership and it works fine :) I'm the account owner with the game under my account. In order to play two player - I use the secondary Switch under my account and the main player users the primary one
@@TeeChu so since I own it and am using the secondary would I need internet? Or would the primary (account that doesn't own it) be the one who needs internet
Hey! So: If you want to just play the game (e.g. offline only): - Primary switch: doesn't need internet as it doesn't check ownership. - Secondary switch: needs internet as it checks ownership (doesn't need to be continually connected, only for the initial check). Local play (two switches, wireless) is not supported. if you want to play the game online (e.g. online Mario Kart or Smash), both Switches will need internet and a Nintendo online membership to play.
I think your video has just saved me selling two Nintendo switches. What an absolute pigs ear Nintendo have made of something that should be so so simple. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, most helpful
So u couldn't play games offline (no internet) with the secondary switch. But could u actually open the game with internet and than go offline. Would it close the game or could you just play further? This would be really handy as u could just open a hotspot for 1 second, connect and than immediately close it.
@@reeser2776 @YouMamaGames - Good question! I've tried this in t'pub before - so I used a hotspot on my phone, connected, launched the game and it worked fine. I've heard people say Nintendo do a check from time to time (every few hours). So you possibly could launch a game at home/school/work/hotel - and play offline for a little while. The alternative is fiddly but do-able, you *could* switch secondary to primary and keep doing that (via the Switch eShop NOT browser)
@YouMamaGames @Reese R - Can verify - I launched Smash at home (it checked), then put the Switch on sleep. Went round to my brother's and went back into Smash without needing to reconnect (a few hours later) and it held up fine. I guess it needs a bit of trial and error!
Easy to do for yourself, some games let you do this with local wireless two accounts for coop, some don't. So if you're looking to play together on one copy of a game it can take trial and error, or just buying a second copy - but buying multiple copies of the same game at retail for your family is brutal.
Buying multiple copies is Brutal totally agree yes If you want to share 1 download or digital copy of a game like Mario Kart, Smash, Pokemon, Splatoon etc then you can using the method in this video :) If you do digital games then it is possible to share and play them at the same time using this method - local play isn't supported this way, however.
@@TeeChu indeed, maybe I just didn't have it setup right but in the past Stardew Valley would let me load up both on a single copy but when the second player connected to the local wireless game it said "cannot be the same copy of the game" though both could have played single player. All good though. I've bought stardew like 5 times and love supporting that guy, good price for the enjoyment it gives. That's what I meant about trial and error with some for local wifi coop.
Sorry before i start doing this i wanna double check. My son has a switch with alot of games digital. Family plays smash mario cart pico park etc. And my daughter plays animal crossing on his switch. We just got my daughter a switch and want to make his secondary on hers so she can start playing animal crossing with her own island and of course all the other games. If we do that can she play animal crossing with her own name on her switch. And will it ruin the family playing the games in the living room on my sons switch? Or should i derigester sons primary and set his primary to daughters new switch and have him secondary on sons switch? If i de register will he lose coins for games bought online? Sorry if its confusing but all this is confusing help please and thankyou
@@Insomkilla17 I really can't answer all of those questions because I don't want to be the cause of pain in your life if I am wrong. It is true (as of the last time I tried) that if both players have Switch online and their own account (I have a family account) then the primary and secondary can play the game at the same time in multiplayer together. I have not tried this with more than 2, but I believe it is limited to the primary console and 1 secondary console at a time (and for multiplayer both need switch online accounts). A third secondary switch would most likely do the online check and deny loading the game. I cannot see how your son would lose anything in the game if it is all saved to his online account. And yes, if the living room was a secondary and someone was already on the game on another secondary switch, it would not load up.
@@Insomkilla17 That's a super tricky one! So like Paul mentioned, essentially how this works is: - Any user can play any game on the Primary Switch - Only the owner of the game can play on the Primary - The owner of the game needs to use a secondary Switch - Any *other* user of the games would need to use a primary Switch So by the sounds of things, you'd like to keep the old/existing Switch as your primary (e.g. anyone can use it) So your daughter's Switch would need to become the secondary Switch, in order to share the copy of Animal Crossing Who owns the games? Is the important question - which user is Animal Crossing attached to? In order for this to work, you will need to: - Setup the user who owns Animal Crossing on the Secondary Switch - Download Animal Crossing - Your daughter will need to use that account to play Essentially that's it - she'll have her own island (would need to start from scratch unless you do a transfer)
I have gotten my switch and am trying to play online with my sister who lives in another state. I have added her as a friend using the friend code. But every time I open online and try to use the friend mode, I get a message. Saying I can’t create a room because I don’t have any registered friends. How do I register a friend?
Just wondering, following what you just mentioned, what happens if you want to play Mariokart online with both primary and secondary consoleo through Nintendo Online, with same same online account?
It'll kick the first console to launch the game if that makes sense - so if you launch Mario Kart under your username, and launch it again on another Switch it'll stop the first session (see around 2:30 in the vid) So you'll need an additional user on the Primary Switch to use their own account with online if you wish to race alongside each other :)
Hi, it's so cool that you're still responding to comments! I bought myself a switch oled after nintendo tried to repair my normal switch and they reset everything. Now my Oled is the Primary and I'm planning to get Nintendo Online, but I can't open the games that I bought on "mario" on the "luigi" account. Neither on the Primary nor the secondary. The only account I can use to open the games on both switches is "mario", do you have any idea why? I really wanted to play the same game online together on different switches. Also sorry if it's kinda confusing but english isn't my first language:)
Hey! That sucks about the old normal Switch but great you've got the OLED too now! So if Mario = owner of the games - The Mario account will need to be on both Switch consoles like you have at the moment - The Luigi account can only launch games on the *Primary* switch You can go into the eShop and change primary console too if needed :) I would do this: 1) Decide which switch will be primary (Luigi can use) 2) On both Switch consoles go into the eShop as Mario and deregister (on the console) 3) On the *primary* Switch, open the eShop again - that Switch becomes primary 4) Luigi should be able to play any of Mario's downloaded games on the primary ONLY 5) Any other Switch console becomes your secondary - only Mario can play those games Hope that works!
@TeeChu TYSM for the response:D I just noticed even tho I logged in to the oled first it wasn't the primary switch. I think the normal one is actually the primary switch rn and that's exactly what I needed lol. I'm gonna test it after Christmas cause it's wrapped up rn.:) And again TYSMMM for the response
𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙇𝙔 𝘼𝙎𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎!! Thanks for watching, hoped this video has helped you share games and save a few £/$/€! 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 - 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 ;) 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡? - The person who owns the games/license for the downloads plays on the SECONDARY Switch - They must download the games on BOTH switches. See from 1:22 onwards - Any other user can play on the primary Switch 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲? A primary Switch allows ANY user to play ANY downloaded game without restrictions A secondary Switch allows THE OWNER of the games to play their downloaded games Watch from 3:10 onwards 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲? - By default it would be the first Switch you logged into the eShop with. - The second/new Switch is normally your secondary. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲? - You can swap Primary Switch consoles easily! See 3:35 onwards in the video. - MAKE SURE you DO NOT do this through a web browser, as it's PERMANENT. It has to be done through the eShop on the Switch consoles itself. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡? - Using the Switch console? There doesn't seem to be a known limit. You can keep disabling primary Switch to swap Primary/Secondary consoles if needed. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠! 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨. - Normally this is because of which Switch you're playing on - the person who owns the games needs to play on the SECONDARY switch. This is because Nintendo checks ownership on the secondary Switch, with the Primary, any OTHER user can play any game. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲? - You can't chop a cartridge in half, so it's download/digital games only 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? - Yep, you can play online at the same time, or separately! - Local multiplayer (wireless between 2 Switch consoles) won't work, however 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟑 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ALL 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬? - This trick only works between 2 Switch consoles, and one of your kids will need to use your account (or the account holder of the games) 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 / 𝐤𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬?
- Any user on the Primary Switch, regardless of online membership or status, can play your games. - You'll need to use the SECONDARY Switch for your games! 𝐃𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? - The person who owns the games and playing on the SECONDARY Switch will need an initial internet connection each time they want to play the games (as it checks ownership) - The person/people using the PRIMARY Switch can play these download games anywhere as it doesn't check for ownership or need to connect to start the games
My dude responding to comments from a 2 year video! Doing free tech support out here. Should defo have a Kofi/Paypal tips link somewhere. Going to try this later. I've already been playing Zelda TOTK on my account on the owners switch (on my own profile). But I want to play simultaneously on another switch. Will there be any issues with save data/cloud saves?
No worries haha - happy to help out! Haha - I do have merch (which I wish I linked in the original video 😂) Anywho - good question! Technically there shouldn't be any issues (it's mainly games like AC that are bound to a single console that can be a problem with playing across devices, or Pokemon that doesn't support cloud saves) As far as I know Zelda should be fine with cloud saves, though you may need to download the latest version of a save - it can be fiddly! That said - I should note that only the *owner* can play on multiple Switches - if you're going to buy your own copy that's fine ofc!
Hello! First of all, I just wanna say: great video! I wanted to ask you something: I went through the steps to share games with my brother's swtich and now each switch can download each other's games. The problem is that my brother can play with his switch and with ALL HIS USERS all the games I bought and I can only play with my account (I have other users on the switch who cannot access my games now, but only those bought by my brother). Since other people are also playing with their accounts on my switch, is there any way to fix this? Many thanks in advance!
Hi Ai :) No worries! Happy to help So the way this works is unfortunately *only* one Switch can be *primary* - so your brother's is primary and any other user can use your games on his Switch BUT that means as the owner of these games, your Switch is *secondary* - there's no fix for this I'm afraid Game sharing only works one way - so any user can play any game on a Primary Switch; but not on the secondary The reason being is the secondary Switch checks ownership, primary does not - if they didn't check ownership on the second, one user would be able to download their games / share on hundreds of Switch - not ideal (for Nintendo)
What’s up man I don’t want to annoy you or anything but my friend bought all stars. We both did the game share process and registering etc. so am I gonna be able to play the game at the same time in different users?
Hi! No worries - happy to answer any questions y'all have :) Short answer is yes, you should be able to play the game at the same time However - the person who bought the game should play the game on the *secondary* switch - this switch will need to connect to the internet from time to time to verify ownership
Thank you so much I was struggling to process all of the information before watching different videos and now I understand instead of acting like a caveman trying to work a car
Hi there! So just to clarify, the secondary Switch has to be connected to the internet? There’s no way to game share when you’re on a road trip or out of the house for example?
Best name ever! haha - So as far as I know, it needs to connect to the internet once every few (3/4?) hours to verify the game's ownership, odd I know So technically you can do it when you're at home before leaving, or in a cafe, hotel etc and see how it goes! Though personally I haven't had much luck connecting outside the home Also - local play typically won't work (e.g. Mario Kart local wireless multiplayer won't work, but online multiplayer will)
On the secondary switch does the game automatically stop when you lose the internet connection or is it doing a check like every 15 minutes or so? Asking for the case when I’m on the go with the secondary and want to access my digital purchases.
Good question! I don't think there's a specific time - but from what I've seen myself and read from others, it maybe a few hours where you need to check into wifi and connect You maybe able to do a quick tether/wifi-hotspot on your phone, load up the game, and then disconnect The alternative is to switch primary/secondary before you head out, but that is effort!
Correct me if I'm wrong but you essentially have to close down the game that the primary switch is playing on, let the secondary switch go in the game and have the primary go back in again after the secondary switch is already in it, then it should work?
Hey Sarah - not quite! So essentially: - Primary Switch: Any *other* user aside from the owner should use this as it *doesn't* check ownership on the Primary - Secondary Switch: Only the owner can use this one as it does check ownership when you launch the game As long as you're using it in that way, you don't need to close down or launch a game in a particular order :) You can play at the same time, solo - essentially it'll feel like 2 separate copies :) The only limitation is the owner's copy on the secondary will connect online to check ownership each time you launch a game If you play as the owner of the game on Primary, and then try to play it on the secondary (as the owner) at the same time, it will kick you out Hope that makes sense!
It's a shame that local ad-hoc multiplayer doesn't work with a shared copy. Cruisin Blast doesn't have an online mode and only supports local wifi and split-screen multiplayer.
Yes that's covered in the video, if you follow the video you'll be able to do this and play online together But whoever owns the games will need to play on a *secondary* Switch :) Whoever doesn't own the games would need to play on a Primary Switch
We purchased a Switch for our boys a Christmases ago. I was thinking of getting a Lite for them for this coming Christmas. But could they both play Mario Cart together? We have a the physical game for Mario Cart.
Sooo basically...it's the exact same thing as on Xbox? Where everyone can play your games on your Home Xbox, and you can play them on any console (or, in this case, on the secondary Switch)? Or is there something I'm missing?
So I just bought 2 Nintendo switch oleds one is for my dad and the other one is for me and my sister my question is that I have the Nintendo account and I have the family membership plus expansion pack because my dad saw the old super mario game so I want to know how will I be able to download the old games on his switch without being on my profile I already have his own profile set up but I’m so confused on how I can put games on his switch and make sure they don’t go on mine and my sisters switch
Do you mean the Nintendo classic game apps like the NES, SNES etc? As part of your Nintendo account you can download them onto his Switch using his account :)
My brother owns a switch lite and I have a normal switch, if I digitally download Splatoon 3 when I comes out, after following the steps in this video, will it be possible for both of us to play online with each other at the same time?
You will be able to play online together and separately online yep! So essentially, question is - who would own the game? The owner of the game would need to be on the secondary switch, and the person who doesn't would need to use the primary console? The owner would need to be a user on both consoles for it to work, and download Splat 3 on both The way it works is that the primary console doesn't check ownership, so any *other* user can play the owner's games It checks ownership on the secondary console, so only the owner can play their games You'll both need a Nintendo online account each :) Hope that helps!
Hey! You can’t play using the same user on different switches (at the same time) as it’ll kick you out (as in the video) - but you can as the same user when *not* playing at the same time - eg play on one, stop the game, then start on the other 😊 Only the owner can do this. Other users will need to use the primary switch to play and can’t play the owners game on the secondary if that makes sense!
Wow; there is NO reason for Nintendo to of made this so complicated , BUT i think ive got it sorted and will give it a try this evening; thank you for this broken down explanation; gonna see if i can follow it; lol.
Hi guys - yep it does let you play games online together :) We've not tried Rise yet but it shouldn't really matter - Mario Kart, Splatoon, Mario Party, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Clubhouse Games etc - have tried these and they all work! Don't forget the secondary player needs to use the primary switch!
Question, I bought 2 switch lites for my kids, but I don’t want to buy Mario Kart two times for each switch, if I link the profiles is it possible for the kids to play Mario kart separately if I only buy it on the primary account? I hope this makes sense lol
Hey Pauline that's great! So what I recommend: - Add your account to the both Switches and download Mario Kart - Any user can play Mario Kart on the *Primary *switch - The secondary switch will need to use your account (or whatever account owns the games) to play So that's essentially how it works - the person who owns the games can download it onto multiple Switches, but will need to use *that* account on the Secondary Switch if that makes sense to play The primary Switch doesn't check game ownership, which is why anyone can play that game The secondary Switch checks game ownership, that's why the only the owner can play it So they can play separately, offline, and together online - you can't do local wireless this way, though. So in order to race together you'll need an online Nintendo membership for all (I recommend a family account as is cheaper) Hope that makes sense!
Hey! The owner of the games can play any game on any of the Switch consoles they down, but not at the same time The owner + another user can play at the same time on two Switch consoles The owner will need to use a secondary Switch console as it checks ownership of the games on secondary Switch consoles Any *other* user will need to use the primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership on the primary Switch Have a watch of the video for details on primary/secondary Switches and how it works :)
Bit tricky to explain! So: - The account you use for game sharing/the owner of the games needs be a user on both Switch consoles, let's call that user "Mario" - Mario should log on to the eShop to download the games on both Switch consoles - Mario must use the Secondary Switch to play the games as it checks ownership online before Mario can play the game - Any other user (let's call them Luigi) can use the Primary Switch to play the games Mario has downloaded. - Both Luigi and Mario can play the games at the same time or separately - This doesn't need an online subscription to download the games and play the games OFFLINE BUT if you want to do online play (together or with others) then you'll need a subscription for both Mario and Luigi OR both Mario and Luigi can be on a family plan to save a bit of money Hope that helps! Essentially - there's a difference between having an eShop account (to buy games) and an online subscription to play online
Yep that's correct :) With this method both players can play separately (online and offline) at the same time or separately You can also play together as well (e.g. Mario Kart, Smash, Splatoon etc) - but *only* online, though! Local play doesn't work
Yep - you can definitely...smash together! This only applies to digital/download copies of course :) What you need to do in a nutshell: - Nominate one of you two to be the owner of the games - Buy Smash under that account - Add the owner's account to both Switches and sign into the Nintendo account on both - Download Smash onto both consoles using the owner's account - At this stage you'll need to decide who'll be primary and who'll be secondary. On the Primary Switch, any other user can play the owner's games - See 4:30 in the video for instructions on swapping Primary/Secondary Essentially I would recommend your wife's Switch become the primary if you own Smash And that's it :) The limitations are - if you want to battle each other, then you *need* to play online (local wireless play doesn't work) and on the secondary Switch it does need to do a quick online check to load the game (it checks ownership)
Hi! I am the primary user with the game and trying to game share with someone else. Does this mean I have to make their switch the primary console? Are there downsides to this, would they have control over my account? Could I transfer my save data to them as well? There wouldn't be any issues if they play the shared game and I play another game, right?
Hey Felix - that is exactly right! Their console would need to become primary, plus your account will need to exist on that console. Technically they would be able to use your account - I believe you can put parental controls on, but I would really recommend only sharing games with someone you trust really. Your save data would only be under *your* username though - so they'd have to progress on their own account. There might be some exceptions where saves are shared between users, but really they'd have to treat it like their own game really! And yep - they have full access to your game downloads on the Primary Switch - you can play your games on your own Secondary console and it wouldn't affect their experience. Essentially it'll be like having two separate copies really :) The only limitations are: - Your secondary switch checks ownership whenever you launch a game (so you will need internet access, at least for that bit where it checks) - If your friend accidentally launches a game as your account (not theirs) on the primary Switch, it'll kick you out!
I have recently bought a switch and want to play Mario Kart with my sister who lives in North Carolina. Is there a way for us to race against each other in regular multiplayer mode? The only solution I have found is to add her as a friend and play online together. However, I would prefer to race against her in the regular vs. format of the game. If I follow this tutorial will we be placed in the same game or open two separate ones? I hope that makes sense.
So if you follow the tutorial, you and your sister will both have a copy of Mario Kart (basically it will be as if your sister had her own copy) For game sharing with the method in this video - local multiplayer play is *not* possible between the two Switches. You can play offline separately, online separately and online together So if you want to race together you'll need to race online :) But Mario Kart's online multiplayer is great to be fair - so you can create a private lobby and it gives you all the standard options - CPU on/off, items, custom items, course selection, number of wins etc You can alternatively have it where one of you joins a public lobby and, one in, the other joins in via the friends list - if you want to play with fellow humans instead of CPUs To do this: - The game owner needs to be on both Switches - The game owner downloads Mario Kart onto both - The person sharing has to be on a primary Switch (See video for steps on how to swap primary/secondary) - The person sharing uses their own Switch account to play - Make sure you both have an online subscription OR are part of a family plan if you wish to play online And that's it :)
@@TeeChu may I confirm? you said "can play offline separately", what ive been said this whole time is, the secondary switch needs to be connected to internet always to play games
So I can't have my Nintendo switch and buy my two kinds Nintendo switch lites with a family membership and we all play the online games together that ive purchased on my main Nintendo switch??? 😳🤔
@@N0bun4g That's how you should set it up - if you have a watch of the video you can see how the account structures will work 1) You need to add your account as the owner of the games to *both* Switch consoles 2) Download the games you want on either 3) Make sure your gf's Switch is set to Primary (as it doesn't check ownership) 4) Make sure you use the secondary Switch (as it checks ownership) You can play separately and at the same time etc online/offline. Because your GF's Switch doesn't check ownership, she can play any of your games at any time The only limitations are: - Local wireless multiplayer is not supported - e.g. if you open a local lobby in Mario Kart - Your Secondary switch will always check ownership
oh god thank u sm for this it’s extremely complicated for some reason LMAOO my first switch is a switch lite and i am thinking abt getting a regular switch. however i’m not sure how smart that would be since i would prefer playing in handheld mode anyway and w both the consoles... do u have any advice to help me figure out if i would rly need a second switch or could get one just to have it and still play all my games? one of the games i play is animal crossing and i’m not quite sure if that game works like the rest of the games and if the data would just transfer and i’d be able to switch being the consoles .. pls let me know
Hmm - I think it's probably only worth getting a regular Switch if you plan to dock it / play on your TV really! AC data can be transferred, but you can only play that same island on one Switch at one time I believe (not tried AC island transfer myself yet - too scared!) This video is mainly for those who want to share their download/digital games really, e.g. with a friend/partner/family
I have a question. 1.) my sister and I have one switch lite 2.) the switch has two accounts 3.) animal crossing is on it (it’s a physical copy) 4.) we want to get a new Nintendo Is there a way for us to share the game and have the exact same island so we can both play at the same time on different accounts considering we only have one copy of the game
@@lizzieisartsy2612 hey! To answer your questions - you cannot have the same island on multiple switches I’m afraid When you launch Animal Crossing on a New switch, you’ll get a new island. There’s no way to copy a physical copy either, unfortunately! The best case scenario would be you’d have your own islands on each Switch but will need another copy of the game if you want to play at the same time since you’ve got the physical cartridge. Hope that helps!
Thanks for video! One of the only people out there that is clear and provides an explanation on this. I previously had one nintendo switch with one nintendo account. I bought my daughter a Switch for Christmas and when making her profile I connected it to my Nintendo account. Now we cant play the games at the same time. Any idea what I did wrong or how to fix this Mr. TeeChu? Thanks!
Hi Mark! Sorry for the delay - YT flagged this comment! Hope you were able to fix this - so your daughter would need to play on the *original* switch and you would play on the new one. It checks for game ownership on the *secondary* switch but not primary The way around this would be: - On the primary switch, go to the eShop (on the Switch itself NOT a web browser) and unset it / don't make it primary - Login to the eShop on the new Switch - that new Switch becomes primary - Your daughter can then play all your digital games without it needing to check ownership - Your original switch is then the *secondary* switch, so it does check whether you own the games or not (i.e. does an online check) - But then you can play the games at the same time or separately. To play together (multiplayer) - you'll need to play online, however, as local multiplayer (wireless) is not supported this way
does this work with physical games as well? i'd like to try play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate with my brother but i only have the physical copy and there's only 1 of it
Nope! So each user has their own save file :) It's like having multiple copies of the same game - the owner can continue their game on the secondary Switch as normal :) The only exception to this is Animal Crossing, where it's a unique island per switch console - so it would be a new island on the secondary unless transferred
This is best way for 2 switches with 1 digital copy to play at same time.Primary plays in Airplane mode which is offline.Secondary must always be online to play 2nd switch so Use it at home with wi-fi but What about using secondary switch away from home but no wi-fi right? Use hot spot from ur phone
Hey - primary doesn't need Wifi at all, so really doesn't need Airplane mode (though I get that helps to prevent being booted on the secondary). You **don't need to always be online** for the secondary - it's only for the ownership check when launching a game. But it may check from time to time as well, possibly!
what you dont mention is say playing on a LAN where you have no internet connection! where LAN play is available like mario kart 8! big fing option not covered!
This is a video for game sharing online and you need internet access for the second player to verify ownership. Local play isn’t supported via this method.
@@TeeChu but u havent shown its not, eg if i disconnect router but have lan ethernet or wireless does that work Y/N under 1 account? eg i have 2 tv and another controllers can i do 8 player or more etc? you havent explored or answered the question! sure i could take 5 mins to doit myself but i aint claint you tube revenue
@@iamnutty8471 Hi Nutty - so this video is when you want to share a single download copy of the game across the two consoles, I assume you'd like to use this method and then swap over to LAN play? Sorry just trying to understand what you're trying to do I've not tried it myself, but I know local wireless *doesn't* work - so not 100% sure lan / wired would It's worth a shot, but in order to use the shared download copy, you will need to at least go online to activate/launch the game (presumably then perhaps try airplane mode and then hooking docking with the lan setup. I don't have lan adaptors to hand I'm afraid so can't test it out for you
@@TeeChu ok i could test this myself as i have require hardware but i am drinking! but giving advice over all seems like a good place to start rather thena cout down version good but could be better eG 1 primary account over lan play with no internet connection like on a switch!
Yep! Can confirm it works on the Pokemon games too! Make sure your Switch (I assume your account is the owner!) is the secondary and your daughter’s is primary - and you’re all good! You’ll both have your own save file etc
@@TeeChu thank you so much for your reply! This was so helpful. I’m actually planning on getting the special edition Zelda themed OLED if it’s real, which it sounds like it is. Can’t wait!
I have a question. So I recently bought an oled and I have my account linked to both of them. I’m trying to play overwatch 2 on my secondary switch (oled). I am connected to the internet and the error code 2819-0003 still pops up, so why can’t it verify that it me? I downloaded overwatch 2 separately on both switches (it’s a free game btw) and no one is currently playing overwatch on my primary. Also I currently don’t have the option to activate my oled as my primary because I am traveling.
Hmm - is anything running on your Primary when you do that and is the secondary definitely connected to the internet? I'm a bit stuck on this as the secondary should definitely work using this method
@@TeeChu so I asked around and it turned out someone was using my old switch. So I started it up on the internet and it worked just fine. Thank you and now I know how to work around it!
@@TeeChu i can't play with my bf that is on the primary switch because it says that he doesn't have the game but he is inside the game , we can't to raid together on Pokemon
It should work - whoever owns the game needs to use the *secondary* Switch, and whoever doesn't own the game should use the *primary* Note - it only supports online play with this, local multiplayer (wireless/offline) isn't supported between multiple Switch.
Good question! I don't think anyone has the exact answer for this, but as far as I know it (might) be a check every few hours - not entirely sure! I assume you mean launching the game at home, then playing on the move without internet? Possibly!
I got Minecraft, on my switch, and I want to play with my 2 brothers online. It lets my brother do it if I use a different account on the primary switch, but I can’t figure out how to play with my 2nd brother. Is there any way to do it?
Hey C, Unfortunately not, it only seems to work with two switches - here's why: Bob owns Minecraft James wants to gameshare Peter wants to gameshare Bob plays on the secondary Switch as all secondary consoles check for game ownership James plays on the primary as primary Switch consoles don't do a check Peter wants to play, so uses an additional secondary Switch console. But that Switch needs to check ownership, so Peter would need to login as Bob. Bob is already playing, so it breaks :( That's pretty much why!
Hey Mohammed - no worries! Good question - essentially it doesn't matter which one you buy it on, as long as it's under the owner's account The owner's account needs to be on both Primary & Secondary Switch consoles - and you'd just redownload it on both :) E.g. if you have a "Mohammed" user who owns the games, then you'd be playing the games on Secondary, and would just re-download on both consoles - other users on Primary can use your copy Technically you can re-download your games on as many Secondary Switch as you want to, but as the owner can only play on one Secondary at a time
Thank you for this Video!!! is the Nintendo online service also shareable or need Mario and Lugie a online membership to play 1 copy on 2 Switches online
Hey Andreas! No worries - so unfortunately each user will need their own online account to play online You can play offline solo (not local multiplayer) without an online subscription, however - e.g. offline copies of Pokemon But ya - either two separate online subscriptions (one for Mario, one for Luigi) to play online or part of a family plan - either works :)
Yep that’s correct! You’ll need to exist on both switches and download the games you need on both (as you / the owner) Any other user on the primary will be able to play using their own account as it doesn’t check ownership As the owner you can use either but only one switch at a time - so it’s best for the person/people sharing the games to use the primary They can play separately or at the same time There are limitations - so on the secondary it does check ownership so does a quick online check when you launch any downloaded game Plus local (offline) multiplayer doesn’t work but online does ☺️
So if my brother and I wanted to play the new pokemon game at the same time with two different profiles, Would we need to buy 2 games, or could we download it on one console and transfer it to another (which would only be the cost of one game instead of 2)
You can play the 1 copy of the game on 2 switch at the same time - have a watch of the video In this example the owner of the game = Mario Other user = Luigi 1. Mario has the same profile on both Switch 2. Mario downloads the game on both Switch consoles 3. Luigi uses the Primary console to play 4. Mario uses the Secondary console to play On the primary console, it doesn't check ownership, so Luigi or any *other* user can use their profile to play it. On the secondary console, it does check ownership, so Mario would need to use that console Both users will have their own save file and can play at the same time, or separately :) But you have to have it setup that way because of the ownership check
@@TeeChu wait so if I had two users I put an account as primary on the secondary switch Am I able to play the same game on both switches and different profiles
@@subhankiani7379 Yep, please watch the video on how to set it up... but you need to do it in this way: The owner of the game = Mario Other user = Luigi 1. Mario has to have the same profile on both Switch consoles 2. Mario downloads the game on both Switch consoles 3. Luigi uses the *Primary* console to play 4. Mario uses the *Secondary* console to play On the primary console, it doesn't check ownership, so Luigi or any other user can use their profile to play it On the secondary console, it does check ownership, so Mario would need to use that console
@@marcw9186 Yes. this technique is designed for two different switches... Mario = owner Luigi = person sharing 1. Mario needs to be a user on both Switches using the same Nintendo account 2. Follow the steps at 4:30 in the video to deregister both Switches on the eShop - when you deregister Primary, both Switch would become neutral (e.g. neither Primary nor Secondary) 3. On Luigi's switch, Login to the eShop as Mario - this makes Luigi's Switch now Mario's primary 4. Because it's Mario's primary, Luigi can now play any of the downloaded games on that Primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership 5. Now login to the eShop on Mario's Switch - this becomes Mario's Switch and he can play his games, but it does check ownership on this switch because it's a Secondary switch Hope that makes sense!
Yep - whoever owns the games must use the *secondary* Switch and any other user should use the *primary*. Both of you will need an online subscription to play together at the same time (or separately) online :)
Hello, thanks for the video. Have a little question. Can I use two different softwares?. For example RUclips in one console and some other game in the other console without problem?
Hey! Yep - you can use different games at the same time or separately no problem :) It will basically be like having an extra copy of the game! The only limitations are: - Local multiplayer won't work with this method, it has to be online only - The owner of the game has to use the secondary Switch, and will need online access to check ownership when launching the game
@@SethTurnerPrinting Hmm - is it just the two of you? Your wife can use a primary Switch and you (technically) can have unlimited secondary Switch consoles but wouldn't be able to run games as you across the secondary if that makes sense
@@TeeChu my third is shared by my kids (and formerly by my wife). It is my current primary. Can you think of a way to make the 3 work? Everything we’ve tried hasn’t yet and we are resigned to double dipping on a few key games
@@SethTurnerPrinting Ah! Unfortunately not sorry - wish there were a way but I'm not entirely sure - possibly toggling on airplane mode *after* launching a game but it makes things tricky
Hi Homer, unfortunately it only works on digital game cards as you can't physically have a game card/cartridge in multiple Switch at the same time. I'm afraid you'll need to get two copies of the game for Bart and Lisa or go digital. Maybe trick Flanders into getting a copy? Good luck!
Good question - so it should be fine to use a regular user on the *primary* switch to play, whilst the owner of the games should use the secondary switch to verify ownership :)
Hey! Doesn't really matter to be honest - so you can buy games via either console or even online via a web browser (providing you're logged in all using the same Nintendo account) :) Then download whichever games you need on either console using that account - if you go into the eShop --> your account, there should be a "redownload" menu where you can download any of the games you own, mix and match etc
hey i dont know if you will see this but i currently have my friends account set as my primary account and he has his account on his switch. On some websites its saying that even if i log into another account me and my friend cant play together online even if i have the his account set as my primary and hes logged his account? are you sure this still works
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Perfect! This sorted us out and got working on two switches. Nintendo definitely make things a bit tricky lol. Thank you for this!
Awesome to hear Victoria! :) Enjoy dual switch gaming! For sure, it is so fiddly but it works!
I don’t get this at all still, who else misses the ds simple wireless app thing. ;(
Hi Angel - essentially how it works is only on digital or download games from the Nintendo eShop
If you buy a download game, it's under your Nintendo account
You can then play the same game on two Switch consoles (not running at the same time, of course!) Any *other user* on the primary console can play the download games you've downloaded on that Switch as a primary Switch doesn't check who owns the game
The person who owns the game can play that same game on the second Switch console
For example:
- Mario owns Mario Kart 8
- Mario plays Mario Kart 8 on the *secondary* Switch
- Luigi plays Mario Kart 8 on the *primary* Switch
That's how game sharing works - it is definitely fiddly but it does work :)
@@TeeChu the title says running at the same time
@@KirilPetrov65 it does run at the same time - you’ll need to make sure the owner of the game is running the game on a secondary switch and a different user is using primary ☺️
@@TeeChu will it work without internet connection. Me and my brother wants to play battle for neighborville on our switch without internet. So if i have the game and he has the primary switch he can download the game on the secondary and we can play toghether. And is the secondary switch gonna have any disadvantages. Hope you understand
@@InzanePug Unfortunately it won't work without internet connection, no
The primary Switch can play offline without any issues, though
But the secondary will need an online connection to launch the game (as it checks ownership on the secondary Switch)
If you want to play together (as in multiplayer) you'll need online play with this method as local offline / wireless play isn't supported
Bro I just did it this way and my kids both playing splatoon 3 online with 2 different consoles I thought you couldn't, but it works !!! Thank you so much
Awesome! Glad to hear it, no worries! Bare in mind it's max 2 consoles, though!
this is really helpful as a new nintendo switch owner. Thank you so much
No worries Nurul :) Enjoy the Switch!
This is totally how it works I will say from experience, also he is definitely not overcomplicating it it's just that confusing and he actually explained it really well
Thank you Henry! That means a lot - it is such a fiddly process but fine once it's all setup
Your video was the most easy to understand. Thank you so much!
No worries, happy Switch gaming!
Best explanation I have seen so far, thanks!
Thanks so much! Good luck with your game sharing :)
Hey! This solved my problem today. I upgraded to OLED and sold my V2 to my friend and now he can play my games too. YOU ROCK!
Awesome and congrats on upgrading to the OLED! 🎉🎉
So basically the owner of all the games should use the second profile on the 1st switch. The second person should use the profile that bought the games?
Not quite ! So the owner of the games should use a *secondary* Switch, not secondary profile
Any one who isn't the owner should use the primary Switch, but their own account :)
So for example:
Mario = Owner
Luigi = Sharing
Mario has account on both Switch consoles and downloads games from their own account
Luigi can play Mario's games on a Primary switch as it doesn't check for ownership
Mario would be the only person who can play Mario's games on the Secondary Switch as it does check for ownership
Hope that makes sense!
@@TeeChu yes! Although I want to know how does this work with Pokémon. Since all those game don’t sync up with cloud save data.
Does all save data follow the profiles it’s tied to? Like my OG switch is going to have to use another profile while my new OLED is going to have to use my OG’s profile. Does all the save data move to the OLED now?
Or is there a better way to share games digitally since I want to play two different games. Sword on one switch and shield on the other
@@eclipses3131Good question! So with any shared game, each user (e.g. Mario / Luigi in this example) has completely separate save files
So you can transfer Pokemon save data from Switch to Switch if needed :) Have a little video for that too!
ruclips.net/video/5pnA6LxEg_s/видео.html
@@TeeChu I’ll still be able to trade with my 2 switches right? Just making sure in case anything does happen
So Mario puts his account on the second switch and makes that switch the main switch so Luigi can play Mario’s games. And Mario has his account on his switch and can still play his own games and they can play at the same time
Extremely helpful as we just got a new switch. The explanation was easy to follow and simple. Thanks !!
No problem!! Glad to hear it!
This channel is a hidden gem
Thanks Gabe!
I just got my additional switch and been searching for how this thing works, but your explanation made me through! Thanks a lot!!
Awesome! Congrats on the extra Switch - glad you got it to work!
why do I see over 20 people on RUclips and even from little as a few months ago saying its impossible to do this... I have a account I wanna share games with my wife and play animal crossing with her at the sometime online..
Hey Sean! Definitely still works - my partner and I play online together and separately no problem, most recently played Mario Kart a couple weeks back - all you need to do is make sure the switch primary/secondary is set correctly
For AC specifically - the person who owns the game should ideally setup their island on a secondary Switch (eg you in this example), the person who is sharing would use the Primary Switch to play (eg your wife)
Hope that helps! If anyone is posting videos about game sharing not working, well, they’re misinformed! 😉
I just bought a new console for my nephew. This will help me to work around game sharing. Thanks. Great content, by the way. I subscribed!
No worries Tom! Thank you :)
I play this once a week just to see if there’s any chance I can understand what the hell is going on here
Hehe - it is super fiddly right? Essentially the owner of the games plays on a secondary console, any other user needs to use the primary
Thank you for this clear explanation! I have been trying for *months* (not kidding) to figure out how to share my digital copy of ACNH between my two switches so I could visit each of my islands and share items and bells back and forth. I made a second account on my secondary switch, bought a family plan for NSO, but I still couldn't play the game on that account. Thanks to your video and clear instructions. I now know I need to make my Lite the primary Switch (especially since it's my travel Switch; my ACNH special edition one stays at home). Finally, I can visit each of my islands!
No worries! Happy to help - however don't forget you'll need to use an extra user to open the gates on the primary island, and likewise use that secondary user to fly over to your secondary island if that makes sense :)
My partner and I use that technique at the moment and it works well!
Thanks for explaining. Got my gf a switch OLED for Christmas and was wondering if this would be an issue. Now to set up the OLED as primary
Nope! Shouldn’t be an issue - what I recommend is creating your account on the OLED and downloading the games you need on there
Then deactivating your switch (on the eshop), and then logging into the eShop on the new OLED Switch to make it primary :)
@@TeeChu already done. Also sent over the saved data between the two switches for both users so we can pick up right where we left off.
I love you, this video is so clear and concise. This was a lifesaver for my me and my brother. You are the best!!
Awww thank you Brian! Made my day - happy to help! 🎉
If you each have an account can you play a game same time against each other. Like Mario Kart?
Yep! You can play online together
Thank you! I’m thinking about getting a switch lite, and this came in handy. Btw you have immaculate hair and an adorable accent 🤩
Aww thank you Chrissy, that's made my day!
I have found a much easier solution which does not require any de-registering of the primary switch - it won’t work for games you have already purchased, but will work for future purchases - So Mario has the primary switch, Luigi is also a user on Mario’s switch, Luigi purchases a game using his profile on Mario’s switch. Because it was purchased on the primary switch, Mario can also play it as any user can play a game bought on the primary switch. But because the game was purchased by Luigi, he can also download and play the game on the secondary switch because the game is linked to his profile - I tried this with a cheap $1.60 game on my primary switch and my sons switch lite - and it worked - and also allows the game to play on both switches at the same time under different profiles - no need to mess around with de-linking the primary switch
Interesting! De-registering is entirely *optional* and only used when you want a different Switch to be Primary - e.g. if you've got a new console etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can Mario play Luigi's game on the *secondary* Switch?
E.g. Luigi's purchased game, can any *other* user play it on that secondary Switch?
If so, that would be a huge game changer.
My gut feeling is that it's working because Luigi has a secondary Switch and owns the game, but I wonder if Mario - who doesn't own the game - can play Luigi's game on the secondary Switch?
In theory it should check ownership on the Secondary, so I'm intrigued
The reason it's working like you've described is like how I've described it in the video - Primary consoles allow any user to play any game. Secondary consoles, in theory, should only allow the owner to play (in this example, Luigi)
The way I normally suggest it is for one user to buy all the games (e.g. Luigi) and that user would use the secondary Switch (as it checks ownership) - and any other user to use the Primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership on that Switch
But if your method works, then that's a huge game changer!
@@TeeChu so I haven’t tried using Mario’s profile on the secondary switch - my situation is that my switch (primary) is the family switch. There are 5 user profiles all linked to my family membership. This switch has everyone’s games and save files etc all for their individual profiles. One of my sons also has a switch lite - which is just his. He only has his profile on it and no one else uses it. So it doesn’t make sense for me to de-link my switch and make his the primary one. As I think that would mess up everyone else who also uses the main switch - so it seems with this method I can keep my main switch the “primary” switch and still share purchases with my son as long as I purchase the game on the primary switch under his profile.
@@michaelbotting806 Gotcha - that makes sense for what you need
That's pretty much the same setup / solution as the video - the reason it works is that the secondary Switch checks ownership, and the primary doesn't
So if you tried Mario on that secondary Switch, it won't work as Luigi owns the game
Luigi can purchase the game on any Switch - to be honest it's not because you've purchased it on Primary, but because Luigi owns the game, so can play it on any Switch
Likewise if you had a third Switch with Wario as a user, they could purchase games on any Switch and play it on their own AND share it with the Primary switch
Mario, and any other user, can play anyone's games on the Primary switch because it doesn't check ownership :)
Primary = doesn't check
Secondary = checks
So ya, whatever works for you and it makes sense to keep your setup as it is :)
But in any case, there isn't a need to deregister - it's entirely optional.
@@TeeChu yeah that makes a lot of sense - so basically the golden rule is that if you are the primary user and you want to share a purchase with the secondary user - just purchase the game under the name of the secondary user - and then both can play without de-linking any switches. - my partner also has her own switch (we have 3 in the house) - so if she bought a game and she is a user on my switch - we will be able to play it at the same time on both our switches under our own profiles 🙂
Great job explaining this so eloquently! Thanks!
No worries at all, enjoy!
Will this work around work with a Nintendo Switch online Family membership?
Good question! I've got a family membership and it works fine :) I'm the account owner with the game under my account. In order to play two player - I use the secondary Switch under my account and the main player users the primary one
@@TeeChu so since I own it and am using the secondary would I need internet? Or would the primary (account that doesn't own it) be the one who needs internet
Hey! So:
If you want to just play the game (e.g. offline only):
- Primary switch: doesn't need internet as it doesn't check ownership.
- Secondary switch: needs internet as it checks ownership (doesn't need to be continually connected, only for the initial check).
Local play (two switches, wireless) is not supported.
if you want to play the game online (e.g. online Mario Kart or Smash), both Switches will need internet and a Nintendo online membership to play.
I think your video has just saved me selling two Nintendo switches. What an absolute pigs ear Nintendo have made of something that should be so so simple. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, most helpful
No worries at all! It is a bit of a fiddly one to setup but once you've got all games bought under 1 account, it works fine :)
So u couldn't play games offline (no internet) with the secondary switch. But could u actually open the game with internet and than go offline. Would it close the game or could you just play further?
This would be really handy as u could just open a hotspot for 1 second, connect and than immediately close it.
Following! I’d like to know this aswell.
@@reeser2776 @YouMamaGames - Good question! I've tried this in t'pub before - so I used a hotspot on my phone, connected, launched the game and it worked fine.
I've heard people say Nintendo do a check from time to time (every few hours). So you possibly could launch a game at home/school/work/hotel - and play offline for a little while.
The alternative is fiddly but do-able, you *could* switch secondary to primary and keep doing that (via the Switch eShop NOT browser)
@YouMamaGames @Reese R - Can verify - I launched Smash at home (it checked), then put the Switch on sleep. Went round to my brother's and went back into Smash without needing to reconnect (a few hours later) and it held up fine.
I guess it needs a bit of trial and error!
@@TeeChu Thankyou, I will use this as a way to work around.
U earned a sub there bud! Keep it going.
@@clap.c3313 Thank you! No worries :)
Thank you so much for this! You did the best job of explaining the process out of all the videos I watched.
No worries Kenneth, happy to help!
2 games 1 cup
N O I C E
2 Switches, 1 charger 😳
This guy is still replying a year after what a legend 🙌
It's 2050. Nintendo has invented brain technology where you use your thoughts to move Mario. I'll still be here, replying from my Care home
This is an absolute terrible tutorial.
Sorry to hear - it is a tricky process to be fair. I hope you find a video that works for you :)
Easy to do for yourself, some games let you do this with local wireless two accounts for coop, some don't. So if you're looking to play together on one copy of a game it can take trial and error, or just buying a second copy - but buying multiple copies of the same game at retail for your family is brutal.
Buying multiple copies is Brutal totally agree yes
If you want to share 1 download or digital copy of a game like Mario Kart, Smash, Pokemon, Splatoon etc then you can using the method in this video :)
If you do digital games then it is possible to share and play them at the same time using this method - local play isn't supported this way, however.
@@TeeChu indeed, maybe I just didn't have it setup right but in the past Stardew Valley would let me load up both on a single copy but when the second player connected to the local wireless game it said "cannot be the same copy of the game" though both could have played single player. All good though. I've bought stardew like 5 times and love supporting that guy, good price for the enjoyment it gives. That's what I meant about trial and error with some for local wifi coop.
Sorry before i start doing this i wanna double check. My son has a switch with alot of games digital. Family plays smash mario cart pico park etc. And my daughter plays animal crossing on his switch. We just got my daughter a switch and want to make his secondary on hers so she can start playing animal crossing with her own island and of course all the other games. If we do that can she play animal crossing with her own name on her switch. And will it ruin the family playing the games in the living room on my sons switch? Or should i derigester sons primary and set his primary to daughters new switch and have him secondary on sons switch? If i de register will he lose coins for games bought online? Sorry if its confusing but all this is confusing help please and thankyou
@@Insomkilla17 I really can't answer all of those questions because I don't want to be the cause of pain in your life if I am wrong.
It is true (as of the last time I tried) that if both players have Switch online and their own account (I have a family account) then the primary and secondary can play the game at the same time in multiplayer together.
I have not tried this with more than 2, but I believe it is limited to the primary console and 1 secondary console at a time (and for multiplayer both need switch online accounts). A third secondary switch would most likely do the online check and deny loading the game.
I cannot see how your son would lose anything in the game if it is all saved to his online account.
And yes, if the living room was a secondary and someone was already on the game on another secondary switch, it would not load up.
@@Insomkilla17 That's a super tricky one!
So like Paul mentioned, essentially how this works is:
- Any user can play any game on the Primary Switch
- Only the owner of the game can play on the Primary
- The owner of the game needs to use a secondary Switch
- Any *other* user of the games would need to use a primary Switch
So by the sounds of things, you'd like to keep the old/existing Switch as your primary (e.g. anyone can use it)
So your daughter's Switch would need to become the secondary Switch, in order to share the copy of Animal Crossing
Who owns the games?
Is the important question - which user is Animal Crossing attached to?
In order for this to work, you will need to:
- Setup the user who owns Animal Crossing on the Secondary Switch
- Download Animal Crossing
- Your daughter will need to use that account to play
Essentially that's it - she'll have her own island (would need to start from scratch unless you do a transfer)
I have gotten my switch and am trying to play online with my sister who lives in another state. I have added her as a friend using the friend code. But every time I open online and try to use the friend mode, I get a message. Saying I can’t create a room because I don’t have any registered friends. How do I register a friend?
Hmm - if you added her as a friend, she'll need to accept your invitation :)
Just wondering, following what you just mentioned, what happens if you want to play Mariokart online with both primary and secondary consoleo through Nintendo Online, with same same online account?
It'll kick the first console to launch the game if that makes sense - so if you launch Mario Kart under your username, and launch it again on another Switch it'll stop the first session (see around 2:30 in the vid)
So you'll need an additional user on the Primary Switch to use their own account with online if you wish to race alongside each other :)
Hi, it's so cool that you're still responding to comments! I bought myself a switch oled after nintendo tried to repair my normal switch and they reset everything. Now my Oled is the Primary and I'm planning to get Nintendo Online, but I can't open the games that I bought on "mario" on the "luigi" account. Neither on the Primary nor the secondary. The only account I can use to open the games on both switches is "mario", do you have any idea why? I really wanted to play the same game online together on different switches. Also sorry if it's kinda confusing but english isn't my first language:)
Hey! That sucks about the old normal Switch but great you've got the OLED too now!
So if Mario = owner of the games
- The Mario account will need to be on both Switch consoles like you have at the moment
- The Luigi account can only launch games on the *Primary* switch
You can go into the eShop and change primary console too if needed :)
I would do this:
1) Decide which switch will be primary (Luigi can use)
2) On both Switch consoles go into the eShop as Mario and deregister (on the console)
3) On the *primary* Switch, open the eShop again - that Switch becomes primary
4) Luigi should be able to play any of Mario's downloaded games on the primary ONLY
5) Any other Switch console becomes your secondary - only Mario can play those games
Hope that works!
@TeeChu TYSM for the response:D I just noticed even tho I logged in to the oled first it wasn't the primary switch. I think the normal one is actually the primary switch rn and that's exactly what I needed lol. I'm gonna test it after Christmas cause it's wrapped up rn.:) And again TYSMMM for the response
𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙇𝙔 𝘼𝙎𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎!!
Thanks for watching, hoped this video has helped you share games and save a few £/$/€!
𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 - 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 ;)
𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡?
- The person who owns the games/license for the downloads plays on the SECONDARY Switch
- They must download the games on BOTH switches. See from 1:22 onwards
- Any other user can play on the primary Switch
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲?
A primary Switch allows ANY user to play ANY downloaded game without restrictions
A secondary Switch allows THE OWNER of the games to play their downloaded games
Watch from 3:10 onwards
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲?
- By default it would be the first Switch you logged into the eShop with.
- The second/new Switch is normally your secondary.
𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲?
- You can swap Primary Switch consoles easily! See 3:35 onwards in the video.
- MAKE SURE you DO NOT do this through a web browser, as it's PERMANENT. It has to be done through the eShop on the Switch consoles itself.
𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡?
- Using the Switch console? There doesn't seem to be a known limit. You can keep disabling primary Switch to swap Primary/Secondary consoles if needed.
𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠! 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨.
- Normally this is because of which Switch you're playing on - the person who owns the games needs to play on the SECONDARY switch.
This is because Nintendo checks ownership on the secondary Switch, with the Primary, any OTHER user can play any game.
𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲?
- You can't chop a cartridge in half, so it's download/digital games only
𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫?
- Yep, you can play online at the same time, or separately!
- Local multiplayer (wireless between 2 Switch consoles) won't work, however
𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟑 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ALL 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬?
- This trick only works between 2 Switch consoles, and one of your kids will need
to use your account (or the account holder of the games)
𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 / 𝐤𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬?
- Any user on the Primary Switch, regardless of online membership or status, can play your games.
- You'll need to use the SECONDARY Switch for your games!
𝐃𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?
- The person who owns the games and playing on the SECONDARY Switch will need an initial internet connection each time they want to play the games (as it checks ownership)
- The person/people using the PRIMARY Switch can play these download games anywhere as it doesn't check for ownership or need to connect to start the games
Dude! Thanks so much! I was looking for this info. I was hoping it would work like this and luckely it does.
Awesome! No worries Axel - enjoy!
My dude responding to comments from a 2 year video! Doing free tech support out here. Should defo have a Kofi/Paypal tips link somewhere. Going to try this later.
I've already been playing Zelda TOTK on my account on the owners switch (on my own profile). But I want to play simultaneously on another switch.
Will there be any issues with save data/cloud saves?
No worries haha - happy to help out! Haha - I do have merch (which I wish I linked in the original video 😂)
Anywho - good question! Technically there shouldn't be any issues (it's mainly games like AC that are bound to a single console that can be a problem with playing across devices, or Pokemon that doesn't support cloud saves)
As far as I know Zelda should be fine with cloud saves, though you may need to download the latest version of a save - it can be fiddly!
That said - I should note that only the *owner* can play on multiple Switches - if you're going to buy your own copy that's fine ofc!
Hello! First of all, I just wanna say: great video!
I wanted to ask you something: I went through the steps to share games with my brother's swtich and now each switch can download each other's games. The problem is that my brother can play with his switch and with ALL HIS USERS all the games I bought and I can only play with my account (I have other users on the switch who cannot access my games now, but only those bought by my brother). Since other people are also playing with their accounts on my switch, is there any way to fix this? Many thanks in advance!
Hi Ai :) No worries! Happy to help
So the way this works is unfortunately *only* one Switch can be *primary* - so your brother's is primary and any other user can use your games on his Switch
BUT that means as the owner of these games, your Switch is *secondary* - there's no fix for this I'm afraid
Game sharing only works one way - so any user can play any game on a Primary Switch; but not on the secondary
The reason being is the secondary Switch checks ownership, primary does not - if they didn't check ownership on the second, one user would be able to download their games / share on hundreds of Switch - not ideal (for Nintendo)
@@TeeChu thank you for the kind reply :)
What’s up man I don’t want to annoy you or anything but my friend bought all stars. We both did the game share process and registering etc. so am I gonna be able to play the game at the same time in different users?
Hi! No worries - happy to answer any questions y'all have :) Short answer is yes, you should be able to play the game at the same time
However - the person who bought the game should play the game on the *secondary* switch - this switch will need to connect to the internet from time to time to verify ownership
@@TeeChu thanks!
But can you play multiplayer if the same game using multiple switch devises?
Yep! Though this method only supports online multiplayer
Easier than I thought, now I'm enjoying Monster Hunter Rise with a friend, thank you!
Awesome! Enjoy :)
Very helpful. You made it easy.
Awesome, no worries Sean!
Thank you so much I was struggling to process all of the information before watching different videos and now I understand instead of acting like a caveman trying to work a car
No worries at all! It is definitely super fiddly but a huge money saver once you get it to work - enjoy!
Hi there! So just to clarify, the secondary Switch has to be connected to the internet? There’s no way to game share when you’re on a road trip or out of the house for example?
Best name ever! haha - So as far as I know, it needs to connect to the internet once every few (3/4?) hours to verify the game's ownership, odd I know
So technically you can do it when you're at home before leaving, or in a cafe, hotel etc and see how it goes! Though personally I haven't had much luck connecting outside the home
Also - local play typically won't work (e.g. Mario Kart local wireless multiplayer won't work, but online multiplayer will)
On the secondary switch does the game automatically stop when you lose the internet connection or is it doing a check like every 15 minutes or so? Asking for the case when I’m on the go with the secondary and want to access my digital purchases.
Good question! I don't think there's a specific time - but from what I've seen myself and read from others, it maybe a few hours where you need to check into wifi and connect
You maybe able to do a quick tether/wifi-hotspot on your phone, load up the game, and then disconnect
The alternative is to switch primary/secondary before you head out, but that is effort!
This actually did work for me
Glad you got it to work!
Best breakdown of this that I've watched.
You sir, I give you a like.
Thank you!
thanks you for making this video, very well done and easy to understand!
Thanks so much! Happy to help :)
i literally dont have enough brain power to understand this, but u did an amazing job explaining (really), thank you
Naw - it is totally fiddly and Nintendo doesn't make it easy! But thank you!
Correct me if I'm wrong but you essentially have to close down the game that the primary switch is playing on, let the secondary switch go in the game and have the primary go back in again after the secondary switch is already in it, then it should work?
Hey Sarah - not quite!
So essentially:
- Primary Switch: Any *other* user aside from the owner should use this as it *doesn't* check ownership on the Primary
- Secondary Switch: Only the owner can use this one as it does check ownership when you launch the game
As long as you're using it in that way, you don't need to close down or launch a game in a particular order :) You can play at the same time, solo - essentially it'll feel like 2 separate copies :)
The only limitation is the owner's copy on the secondary will connect online to check ownership each time you launch a game
If you play as the owner of the game on Primary, and then try to play it on the secondary (as the owner) at the same time, it will kick you out
Hope that makes sense!
Very clear walkthrough. Thanks!!!!
No problem!
It's a shame that local ad-hoc multiplayer doesn't work with a shared copy. Cruisin Blast doesn't have an online mode and only supports local wifi and split-screen multiplayer.
I know right - it's so bizarre! I got caught out in that situation whilst in a pub, playing locally (or trying to) with friends!
thanks this video was extremely helpful and answered basically every question i had and then some
No worries! Enjoy the multi-switch gaming :)
You got a sub! I need this since I'm planning in getting the Dialga Palkia edition switch lite next week!
Thank you! Oooh nice - enjoy!
so I can game share one of my games with a friend and we can both play it together in online multiplayer at the same time
Yes that's covered in the video, if you follow the video you'll be able to do this and play online together
But whoever owns the games will need to play on a *secondary* Switch :) Whoever doesn't own the games would need to play on a Primary Switch
We purchased a Switch for our boys a Christmases ago. I was thinking of getting a Lite for them for this coming Christmas. But could they both play Mario Cart together? We have a the physical game for Mario Cart.
That’s awesome! Unfortunately not - with physical you need two physical copies, with digital you can share across two consoles maximum
Wait so if I have a physical copy on the secondary switch, does it need to run the check?
It'll never check if you have a physical copy :)
God bless you, omg that help me sooo much and its so well explained, thanks a lot : ) Pokemon streamer right there : )
No worries! Enjoy streaming :)
@@TeeChu Thanks
Sooo basically...it's the exact same thing as on Xbox? Where everyone can play your games on your Home Xbox, and you can play them on any console (or, in this case, on the secondary Switch)? Or is there something I'm missing?
Pretty much, I think! The owner needs to use a secondary Switch in this example
So I just bought 2 Nintendo switch oleds one is for my dad and the other one is for me and my sister my question is that I have the Nintendo account and I have the family membership plus expansion pack because my dad saw the old super mario game so I want to know how will I be able to download the old games on his switch without being on my profile I already have his own profile set up but I’m so confused on how I can put games on his switch and make sure they don’t go on mine and my sisters switch
Do you mean the Nintendo classic game apps like the NES, SNES etc? As part of your Nintendo account you can download them onto his Switch using his account :)
@ ok thank you for answering
My brother owns a switch lite and I have a normal switch, if I digitally download Splatoon 3 when I comes out, after following the steps in this video, will it be possible for both of us to play online with each other at the same time?
You will be able to play online together and separately online yep!
So essentially, question is - who would own the game?
The owner of the game would need to be on the secondary switch, and the person who doesn't would need to use the primary console?
The owner would need to be a user on both consoles for it to work, and download Splat 3 on both
The way it works is that the primary console doesn't check ownership, so any *other* user can play the owner's games
It checks ownership on the secondary console, so only the owner can play their games
You'll both need a Nintendo online account each :)
Hope that helps!
Can the same player use a different switch if the accounts are connected to both so he can use multiple switches to play the same levels?
Hey! You can’t play using the same user on different switches (at the same time) as it’ll kick you out (as in the video) - but you can as the same user when *not* playing at the same time - eg play on one, stop the game, then start on the other 😊
Only the owner can do this. Other users will need to use the primary switch to play and can’t play the owners game on the secondary if that makes sense!
@@TeeChu prefect thanks!
When the idea's games I hope they add a option to connect a second switch to your console basically like the Wii u but better
Niceeeee
So your telling me that if I have 2 nintendo switches i need to buy 2 of the same physical game copys in order to play it the same time?
This method works using digital / download games - have a watch of the video for a guide on how to set it up.
Wow; there is NO reason for Nintendo to of made this so complicated , BUT i think ive got it sorted and will give it a try this evening; thank you for this broken down explanation; gonna see if i can follow it; lol.
No worries! To be fair it's not an official method - it's just a bonus of having primary/secondary systems
Not sure if this was asked, but does this allow games like Monster Hunter Rise playable in online co-op?
Hi guys - yep it does let you play games online together :) We've not tried Rise yet but it shouldn't really matter - Mario Kart, Splatoon, Mario Party, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Clubhouse Games etc - have tried these and they all work!
Don't forget the secondary player needs to use the primary switch!
@@TeeChu Thanks! Btw great tutorial! Subbed for future contents.
Question, I bought 2 switch lites for my kids, but I don’t want to buy Mario Kart two times for each switch, if I link the profiles is it possible for the kids to play Mario kart separately if I only buy it on the primary account? I hope this makes sense lol
Hey Pauline that's great!
So what I recommend:
- Add your account to the both Switches and download Mario Kart
- Any user can play Mario Kart on the *Primary *switch
- The secondary switch will need to use your account (or whatever account owns the games) to play
So that's essentially how it works - the person who owns the games can download it onto multiple Switches, but will need to use *that* account on the Secondary Switch if that makes sense to play
The primary Switch doesn't check game ownership, which is why anyone can play that game
The secondary Switch checks game ownership, that's why the only the owner can play it
So they can play separately, offline, and together online - you can't do local wireless this way, though. So in order to race together you'll need an online Nintendo membership for all (I recommend a family account as is cheaper)
Hope that makes sense!
Question, not sure if it’s answered.
Can you play one game on the switch another game on the switch lite on the same account? ??
Hey!
The owner of the games can play any game on any of the Switch consoles they down, but not at the same time
The owner + another user can play at the same time on two Switch consoles
The owner will need to use a secondary Switch console as it checks ownership of the games on secondary Switch consoles
Any *other* user will need to use the primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership on the primary Switch
Have a watch of the video for details on primary/secondary Switches and how it works :)
hi! i have a question can we play it with one online membership or we need to buy seperate membership?
Hey! Each user will need an online membership to play online (or be part of a family plan) to play together :)
@@TeeChu wait im confused so what account/user will we use for the online membership? are we gonna use the account that we used for game sharing?
Bit tricky to explain!
So:
- The account you use for game sharing/the owner of the games needs be a user on both Switch consoles, let's call that user "Mario"
- Mario should log on to the eShop to download the games on both Switch consoles
- Mario must use the Secondary Switch to play the games as it checks ownership online before Mario can play the game
- Any other user (let's call them Luigi) can use the Primary Switch to play the games Mario has downloaded.
- Both Luigi and Mario can play the games at the same time or separately
- This doesn't need an online subscription to download the games and play the games OFFLINE
BUT if you want to do online play (together or with others) then you'll need a subscription for both Mario and Luigi
OR both Mario and Luigi can be on a family plan to save a bit of money
Hope that helps!
Essentially - there's a difference between having an eShop account (to buy games) and an online subscription to play online
one thing im unsure about, can the two switches play online TOgether in the same game? If i use this to give my friend smash can we 1v1 online?
Yep that's correct :) With this method both players can play separately (online and offline) at the same time or separately
You can also play together as well (e.g. Mario Kart, Smash, Splatoon etc) - but *only* online, though! Local play doesn't work
So if I have a switch lite and I buy one for my wife, we can play like super smash bros together?
Do we need 2 copies of the game?
Yep - you can definitely...smash together! This only applies to digital/download copies of course :)
What you need to do in a nutshell:
- Nominate one of you two to be the owner of the games
- Buy Smash under that account
- Add the owner's account to both Switches and sign into the Nintendo account on both
- Download Smash onto both consoles using the owner's account
- At this stage you'll need to decide who'll be primary and who'll be secondary. On the Primary Switch, any other user can play the owner's games
- See 4:30 in the video for instructions on swapping Primary/Secondary
Essentially I would recommend your wife's Switch become the primary if you own Smash
And that's it :) The limitations are - if you want to battle each other, then you *need* to play online (local wireless play doesn't work) and on the secondary Switch it does need to do a quick online check to load the game (it checks ownership)
Hi! I am the primary user with the game and trying to game share with someone else. Does this mean I have to make their switch the primary console? Are there downsides to this, would they have control over my account? Could I transfer my save data to them as well? There wouldn't be any issues if they play the shared game and I play another game, right?
Hey Felix - that is exactly right! Their console would need to become primary, plus your account will need to exist on that console.
Technically they would be able to use your account - I believe you can put parental controls on, but I would really recommend only sharing games with someone you trust really.
Your save data would only be under *your* username though - so they'd have to progress on their own account. There might be some exceptions where saves are shared between users, but really they'd have to treat it like their own game really!
And yep - they have full access to your game downloads on the Primary Switch - you can play your games on your own Secondary console and it wouldn't affect their experience. Essentially it'll be like having two separate copies really :)
The only limitations are:
- Your secondary switch checks ownership whenever you launch a game (so you will need internet access, at least for that bit where it checks)
- If your friend accidentally launches a game as your account (not theirs) on the primary Switch, it'll kick you out!
thank you simple to the point Great explanation thank you so much
No worries at all!
I have recently bought a switch and want to play Mario Kart with my sister who lives in North Carolina. Is there a way for us to race against each other in regular multiplayer mode? The only solution I have found is to add her as a friend and play online together. However, I would prefer to race against her in the regular vs. format of the game. If I follow this tutorial will we be placed in the same game or open two separate ones? I hope that makes sense.
So if you follow the tutorial, you and your sister will both have a copy of Mario Kart
(basically it will be as if your sister had her own copy)
For game sharing with the method in this video - local multiplayer play is *not* possible between the two Switches. You can play offline separately, online separately and online together
So if you want to race together you'll need to race online :) But Mario Kart's online multiplayer is great to be fair - so you can create a private lobby and it gives you all the standard options - CPU on/off, items, custom items, course selection, number of wins etc
You can alternatively have it where one of you joins a public lobby and, one in, the other joins in via the friends list - if you want to play with fellow humans instead of CPUs
To do this:
- The game owner needs to be on both Switches
- The game owner downloads Mario Kart onto both
- The person sharing has to be on a primary Switch (See video for steps on how to swap primary/secondary)
- The person sharing uses their own Switch account to play
- Make sure you both have an online subscription OR are part of a family plan if you wish to play online
And that's it :)
@@TeeChu may I confirm? you said "can play offline separately", what ive been said this whole time is, the secondary switch needs to be connected to internet always to play games
So I can't have my Nintendo switch and buy my two kinds Nintendo switch lites with a family membership and we all play the online games together that ive purchased on my main Nintendo switch??? 😳🤔
Hey! So unfortunately not - this only works with two Switch consoles maximum. One will need to use your account (the secondary Switch)
is it still possible to play games together if i have a game on my account as a secondary and my girlfriends puts my account on her primary?
@@N0bun4g That's how you should set it up - if you have a watch of the video you can see how the account structures will work
1) You need to add your account as the owner of the games to *both* Switch consoles
2) Download the games you want on either
3) Make sure your gf's Switch is set to Primary (as it doesn't check ownership)
4) Make sure you use the secondary Switch (as it checks ownership)
You can play separately and at the same time etc online/offline.
Because your GF's Switch doesn't check ownership, she can play any of your games at any time
The only limitations are:
- Local wireless multiplayer is not supported - e.g. if you open a local lobby in Mario Kart
- Your Secondary switch will always check ownership
do i have to have the family online membership or can she and me seperstly have our own single memberships?
@@N0bun4g separate or family NSO accounts are fine for playing online
oh god thank u sm for this it’s extremely complicated for some reason LMAOO my first switch is a switch lite and i am thinking abt getting a regular switch. however i’m not sure how smart that would be since i would prefer playing in handheld mode anyway and w both the consoles... do u have any advice to help me figure out if i would rly need a second switch or could get one just to have it and still play all my games? one of the games i play is animal crossing and i’m not quite sure if that game works like the rest of the games and if the data would just transfer and i’d be able to switch being the consoles .. pls let me know
Hmm - I think it's probably only worth getting a regular Switch if you plan to dock it / play on your TV really! AC data can be transferred, but you can only play that same island on one Switch at one time I believe (not tried AC island transfer myself yet - too scared!)
This video is mainly for those who want to share their download/digital games really, e.g. with a friend/partner/family
I have a question.
1.) my sister and I have one switch lite
2.) the switch has two accounts
3.) animal crossing is on it (it’s a physical copy)
4.) we want to get a new Nintendo
Is there a way for us to share the game and have the exact same island so we can both play at the same time on different accounts considering we only have one copy of the game
If not is there a way we can copy the game onto another cartridge?
@@lizzieisartsy2612 hey! To answer your questions - you cannot have the same island on multiple switches I’m afraid
When you launch Animal Crossing on a New switch, you’ll get a new island.
There’s no way to copy a physical copy either, unfortunately!
The best case scenario would be you’d have your own islands on each Switch but will need another copy of the game if you want to play at the same time since you’ve got the physical cartridge.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for video! One of the only people out there that is clear and provides an explanation on this.
I previously had one nintendo switch with one nintendo account. I bought my daughter a Switch for Christmas and when making her profile I connected it to my Nintendo account. Now we cant play the games at the same time. Any idea what I did wrong or how to fix this Mr. TeeChu? Thanks!
Hi Mark! Sorry for the delay - YT flagged this comment! Hope you were able to fix this - so your daughter would need to play on the *original* switch and you would play on the new one.
It checks for game ownership on the *secondary* switch but not primary
The way around this would be:
- On the primary switch, go to the eShop (on the Switch itself NOT a web browser) and unset it / don't make it primary
- Login to the eShop on the new Switch - that new Switch becomes primary
- Your daughter can then play all your digital games without it needing to check ownership
- Your original switch is then the *secondary* switch, so it does check whether you own the games or not (i.e. does an online check)
- But then you can play the games at the same time or separately. To play together (multiplayer) - you'll need to play online, however, as local multiplayer (wireless) is not supported this way
does this work with physical games as well? i'd like to try play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate with my brother but i only have the physical copy and there's only 1 of it
Nope unfortunately you can't share physical games!
@@TeeChu ah alright then, thx for the info, great video btw!
Thank you made it so simple to play games with my son and not have to buy to games every time
No worries Domonic! Happy gaming with the little one :)
Hello, does the save data from the primary switch get deleted if I share the game?
Nope! So each user has their own save file :) It's like having multiple copies of the same game - the owner can continue their game on the secondary Switch as normal :)
The only exception to this is Animal Crossing, where it's a unique island per switch console - so it would be a new island on the secondary unless transferred
@@TeeChu Okay thank you so much!
This is best way for 2 switches with 1 digital copy to play at same time.Primary plays in Airplane mode which is offline.Secondary must always be online to play 2nd switch so Use it at home with wi-fi but What about using secondary switch away from home but no wi-fi right? Use hot spot from ur phone
Hey - primary doesn't need Wifi at all, so really doesn't need Airplane mode (though I get that helps to prevent being booted on the secondary).
You **don't need to always be online** for the secondary - it's only for the ownership check when launching a game. But it may check from time to time as well, possibly!
@@TeeChu yea that's true you could just turn WiFi off on primary instead of switching to airplane mode
Hi! i have a question, can i play minecraft online on four separate switch simultaneously Using only one dlc game?
Btw this video was really helpful 👍
Thanks :) You can only play on 2 Switches at the same time unfortunately
what you dont mention is say playing on a LAN where you have no internet connection! where LAN play is available like mario kart 8! big fing option not covered!
This is a video for game sharing online and you need internet access for the second player to verify ownership. Local play isn’t supported via this method.
@@TeeChu but u havent shown its not, eg if i disconnect router but have lan ethernet or wireless does that work Y/N under 1 account? eg i have 2 tv and another controllers can i do 8 player or more etc? you havent explored or answered the question! sure i could take 5 mins to doit myself but i aint claint you tube revenue
@@iamnutty8471 Hi Nutty - so this video is when you want to share a single download copy of the game across the two consoles, I assume you'd like to use this method and then swap over to LAN play?
Sorry just trying to understand what you're trying to do
I've not tried it myself, but I know local wireless *doesn't* work - so not 100% sure lan / wired would
It's worth a shot, but in order to use the shared download copy, you will need to at least go online to activate/launch the game (presumably then perhaps try airplane mode and then hooking docking with the lan setup.
I don't have lan adaptors to hand I'm afraid so can't test it out for you
@@TeeChu ok i could test this myself as i have require hardware but i am drinking! but giving advice over all seems like a good place to start rather thena cout down version good but could be better eG 1 primary account over lan play with no internet connection like on a switch!
Hello! Very helpful! Can my daughter and I share Pokémon this way as well on Pokémon violet?
Yep! Can confirm it works on the Pokemon games too! Make sure your Switch (I assume your account is the owner!) is the secondary and your daughter’s is primary - and you’re all good! You’ll both have your own save file etc
@@TeeChu thank you so much for your reply! This was so helpful. I’m actually planning on getting the special edition Zelda themed OLED if it’s real, which it sounds like it is. Can’t wait!
@@glazersworldakamaryschmitt8811 No worries! Oh wow - yes, it looks incredible (the leaks!), here's hoping!
I have a question. So I recently bought an oled and I have my account linked to both of them. I’m trying to play overwatch 2 on my secondary switch (oled). I am connected to the internet and the error code 2819-0003 still pops up, so why can’t it verify that it me? I downloaded overwatch 2 separately on both switches (it’s a free game btw) and no one is currently playing overwatch on my primary. Also I currently don’t have the option to activate my oled as my primary because I am traveling.
Hmm - is anything running on your Primary when you do that and is the secondary definitely connected to the internet? I'm a bit stuck on this as the secondary should definitely work using this method
@@TeeChu so I asked around and it turned out someone was using my old switch. So I started it up on the internet and it worked just fine. Thank you and now I know how to work around it!
Can Nintendo switch play together with Nintendo switch lite? But not game sharing Please answer my question
Yes you can play together 🙌
@@TeeChu i can't play with my bf that is on the primary switch because it says that he doesn't have the game but he is inside the game , we can't to raid together on Pokemon
It should work - whoever owns the game needs to use the *secondary* Switch, and whoever doesn't own the game should use the *primary*
Note - it only supports online play with this, local multiplayer (wireless/offline) isn't supported between multiple Switch.
Wonderful video, thanks! Do you know if the secondary account only need internet for the initial check?
Good question! I don't think anyone has the exact answer for this, but as far as I know it (might) be a check every few hours - not entirely sure! I assume you mean launching the game at home, then playing on the move without internet? Possibly!
I got Minecraft, on my switch, and I want to play with my 2 brothers online. It lets my brother do it if I use a different account on the primary switch, but I can’t figure out how to play with my 2nd brother. Is there any way to do it?
Hey C,
Unfortunately not, it only seems to work with two switches - here's why:
Bob owns Minecraft
James wants to gameshare
Peter wants to gameshare
Bob plays on the secondary Switch as all secondary consoles check for game ownership
James plays on the primary as primary Switch consoles don't do a check
Peter wants to play, so uses an additional secondary Switch console. But that Switch needs to check ownership, so Peter would need to login as Bob.
Bob is already playing, so it breaks :( That's pretty much why!
What happen to secondary switch when primary switch change email and password??
I'm not sure to be honest - that'll need to be tested, not sure if they'll need to re-login again under their account
This was so helpful, but I have a question, if a want to buy a game from the eshop, which switch should I buy it on? Primary or secondary.
Hey Mohammed - no worries! Good question - essentially it doesn't matter which one you buy it on, as long as it's under the owner's account
The owner's account needs to be on both Primary & Secondary Switch consoles - and you'd just redownload it on both :)
E.g. if you have a "Mohammed" user who owns the games, then you'd be playing the games on Secondary, and would just re-download on both consoles - other users on Primary can use your copy
Technically you can re-download your games on as many Secondary Switch as you want to, but as the owner can only play on one Secondary at a time
Thank you for this Video!!! is the Nintendo online service also shareable or need Mario and Lugie a online membership to play 1 copy on 2 Switches online
Hey Andreas! No worries - so unfortunately each user will need their own online account to play online
You can play offline solo (not local multiplayer) without an online subscription, however - e.g. offline copies of Pokemon
But ya - either two separate online subscriptions (one for Mario, one for Luigi) to play online or part of a family plan - either works :)
So from my understanding I would have to make the switch i use my secondary and the switch i dont use my primary
Yep that’s correct! You’ll need to exist on both switches and download the games you need on both (as you / the owner)
Any other user on the primary will be able to play using their own account as it doesn’t check ownership
As the owner you can use either but only one switch at a time - so it’s best for the person/people sharing the games to use the primary
They can play separately or at the same time
There are limitations - so on the secondary it does check ownership so does a quick online check when you launch any downloaded game
Plus local (offline) multiplayer doesn’t work but online does ☺️
So if my brother and I wanted to play the new pokemon game at the same time with two different profiles, Would we need to buy 2 games, or could we download it on one console and transfer it to another (which would only be the cost of one game instead of 2)
You can play the 1 copy of the game on 2 switch at the same time - have a watch of the video
In this example the owner of the game = Mario
Other user = Luigi
1. Mario has the same profile on both Switch
2. Mario downloads the game on both Switch consoles
3. Luigi uses the Primary console to play
4. Mario uses the Secondary console to play
On the primary console, it doesn't check ownership, so Luigi or any *other* user can use their profile to play it.
On the secondary console, it does check ownership, so Mario would need to use that console
Both users will have their own save file and can play at the same time, or separately :)
But you have to have it setup that way because of the ownership check
@@TeeChu wait so if I had two users I put an account as primary on the secondary switch
Am I able to play the same game on both switches and different profiles
My brother and I own different switches. One is his primary, one is my primary.
@@subhankiani7379 Yep, please watch the video on how to set it up... but you need to do it in this way:
The owner of the game = Mario
Other user = Luigi
1. Mario has to have the same profile on both Switch consoles
2. Mario downloads the game on both Switch consoles
3. Luigi uses the *Primary* console to play
4. Mario uses the *Secondary* console to play
On the primary console, it doesn't check ownership, so Luigi or any other user can use their profile to play it
On the secondary console, it does check ownership, so Mario would need to use that console
@@marcw9186 Yes. this technique is designed for two different switches...
Mario = owner
Luigi = person sharing
1. Mario needs to be a user on both Switches using the same Nintendo account
2. Follow the steps at 4:30 in the video to deregister both Switches on the eShop - when you deregister Primary, both Switch would become neutral (e.g. neither Primary nor Secondary)
3. On Luigi's switch, Login to the eShop as Mario - this makes Luigi's Switch now Mario's primary
4. Because it's Mario's primary, Luigi can now play any of the downloaded games on that Primary Switch as it doesn't check ownership
5. Now login to the eShop on Mario's Switch - this becomes Mario's Switch and he can play his games, but it does check ownership on this switch because it's a Secondary switch
Hope that makes sense!
Can my wife and I play the same game at the same time together online in different parts of the world?
Yep - whoever owns the games must use the *secondary* Switch and any other user should use the *primary*.
Both of you will need an online subscription to play together at the same time (or separately) online :)
Hello, thanks for the video. Have a little question. Can I use two different softwares?. For example RUclips in one console and some other game in the other console without problem?
Hey! Yep - you can use different games at the same time or separately no problem :) It will basically be like having an extra copy of the game!
The only limitations are:
- Local multiplayer won't work with this method, it has to be online only
- The owner of the game has to use the secondary Switch, and will need online access to check ownership when launching the game
Ok, apparently this can’t work for more than 2 switches. Dang.
Yep - it's for 2 Switches sadly
I picked up a third hoping to be able to
share games with my wife. What a frustrating system.
@@SethTurnerPrinting Hmm - is it just the two of you? Your wife can use a primary Switch and you (technically) can have unlimited secondary Switch consoles but wouldn't be able to run games as you across the secondary if that makes sense
@@TeeChu my third is shared by my kids (and formerly by my wife). It is my current primary. Can you think of a way to make the 3 work? Everything we’ve tried hasn’t yet and we are resigned to double dipping on a few key games
@@SethTurnerPrinting Ah! Unfortunately not sorry - wish there were a way but I'm not entirely sure - possibly toggling on airplane mode *after* launching a game but it makes things tricky
does this work when you didn't download the game and its a game card?
Hi Homer, unfortunately it only works on digital game cards as you can't physically have a game card/cartridge in multiple Switch at the same time.
I'm afraid you'll need to get two copies of the game for Bart and Lisa or go digital.
Maybe trick Flanders into getting a copy? Good luck!
Do the other users have to have nintendo account linked to the primary switch?
Good question - so it should be fine to use a regular user on the *primary* switch to play, whilst the owner of the games should use the secondary switch to verify ownership :)
Hey thanks I got it to work because of you. So in the future on which device should I down load the games on? Or does it matter?
Hey! Doesn't really matter to be honest - so you can buy games via either console or even online via a web browser (providing you're logged in all using the same Nintendo account) :)
Then download whichever games you need on either console using that account - if you go into the eShop --> your account, there should be a "redownload" menu where you can download any of the games you own, mix and match etc
hey i dont know if you will see this but i currently have my friends account set as my primary account and he has his account on his switch. On some websites its saying that even if i log into another account me and my friend cant play together online even if i have the his account set as my primary and hes logged his account? are you sure this still works
Hmm - it definitely still works as far as I know! Tested with Mario Kart, Splatoon 2/3, AC, Smash etc
Do you get any error messages?