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The Nintendo Switch library has become home to countless exceptional experiences throughout its five years on the market. These include first-party behemoths like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Metroid Dread. This has been bolstered further by a strong third-party support with releases like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, DOOM Eternal, and Borderlands: The Legacy Collection.
Needless to say, this has contributed a lot to the popularity of the Nintendo Switch. But there is one way that Nintendo can go even further: By emulating their competition with regards to offering affordable access to their library, similar to the Xbox Game Pass.
How would a hypothetical Nintendo Game Pass work?
For those unaware, Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft's Netflix-style subscription service. Except here, it's a game catalog that is being offered instead of shows. The service is one of the most popular in the gaming scene as of now.
On that note, Nintendo is already doing something similar, with their Nintendo Switch Online service. The publisher offers a catalog of retro games for subscribers. These include NES and SNES games with a base subscription and adds N64 and SEGA Genesis games with the more expensive Expansion Pack model.
They just need to combine the retro catalog with their current Switch catalog and talk to publishers who want their own games on the "Nintendo Game Pass" service. As for the pricing, it is best bundled up with NSO as many Xbox Game Pass titles are online. All things considered, it does sound like a good idea on paper. This would also boost the number of NSO subscribers and bring new people to the platform.
How likely is the Big N to go through with this?
To be honest? It's very unlikely. For starters, the company prides itself on its games and believes they hold value for years after release. This is why games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are still listed at full price on the eShop, even though the game was released in 2017. A Game Pass model would just foil that idea as it would offer players a cost-effective way of playing their games.
But hey, at least one could dream. Perhaps Xbox will bring a curated selection of Xbox Game Pass to the Switch in the future. Would you like to see a Game Pass model erected for Switch games?
