Nintendo Switch Online membership can be bought using Gold Points
It looks like Nintendo Switch Online membership can be bought using My Nintendo Gold Points.
Reddit user Ice Blast noticed the detail while reading the Nintendo Switch Online Service FAQ. Under the question "Can I use My Nintendo Gold Points to purchase the Nintendo Switch Online membership?", it states: “Gold Points can be used when purchasing a membership in the Nintendo eShop. They cannot be used for auto-renewal.”
What are Gold Points?
Introduced in March this year, My Nintendo Gold Points are earned for Nintendo Switch game purchases. Whenever you purchase and download a new game, you earn Gold Points worth up to 5% of what you paid - while game cards fetch you 1%.
Gold Points are earned automatically when downloaded from the Nintendo eShop, however physically purchases from retailers need to be registered within two years of the official release date of the game in your country.
These points can be redeemed for any reward that requires Gold Points or used to reduce the price of content on the Nintendo eShop. One Gold Point is the equivalent of $0.01 / £0.01 / AU$0.01. So spending $59.99 USD will earn you 300 Gold Points, which equals $3.00.
Some content is exempt from earning or spending Gold Points - but Nintendo Switch online is not one of these products. To purchase membership, you need the total cost equivalent in Gold Points. So, for example, to purchase one month ( £3.49 / $3.99) or three months (£6.99 / $7.99) of membership you would probably need to buy two Nintendo Switch games. However, annual membership (£17.99 / $19.99) would take several purchases to afford.
Nintendo Switch Online is due to launch in the second half of September.
- Check out the best Nintendo Switch games
