Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has come forward to express the company's commitment to delivering a valuable online service with Nintendo Switch. He stated that online play will serve as a core component of its business.
In the interview with Time, Kimishima said that offering online service for the Nintendo Switch at a price point below that of the competition is a conscious choice Nintendo has made. Rather than squeeze every dollar it possibly can out of its user base.
With regards to the subscription fee that will be required when the paid service launches this fall, Kimishima said there was a lot of discussion within the company before they settled on a price they felt was reasonable for consumers.According to IGN, Kimishima also emphasized that Nintendo is committed to delivering an online service that Switch players will find worth the investment.
Tatsumi has covered a wide variety of topics already, but in a recent interview he said that online play will be a "key" to the new semi-handheld console's success. The Switch online service will launch in the fall and it will be a paid feature that should cost consumers somewhere between $18 and $27 per year.
Switch owners that are subscribed to the service will be able to play with friends online and communicate over voice chat using a dedicated smartphone app.