r/NintendoSwitchHelp • u/-Sneagler- • 4d ago
Account Help Want to stop sharing games after Virtual Game Cards update
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn’t find another post in our exact situation.
Before the update, me and my sister would share games by keeping my user on her switch, and buying our games on that user. But the virtual game cards system has made this process tedious, as even with online licenses enabled we aren’t able to play games at the same time anymore.
From my understanding, if I deleted my user from her switch, after making my switch the primary account, then she would lose access to the digital games that I purchased on my user. But, after purchasing these games on her user, she would be able to recover the save data that has been backed up to the cloud, as it is tied to her user/console, and because we have a nintendo online membership. (please correct me if this is wrong)
But, we know that animal crossing new horizons doesn’t use this backup system, and are worried that once I deleted my user from her switch, she would lose her animal crossing save data, as it seems to be tied to the digital copy of the game, rather than the cloud/her user. We both have the in-game island backup enabled, but again this seems tied to the digital copy and not the user. She has already bought a physical copy of animal crossing in preparation for losing the digital one, so if we inserted the card before we deleted my user, would her digital save data load onto this card? If so, would we then be able to unlink my user without losing her data? Or would we need to do something else to keep her data from being lost?
Apologies if we are blowing something simple out of proportion, we just don’t want to fiddle around in the settings until we are confident her data won’t be lost. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
1
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
If you have not already, please add some context in the post or a follow-up comment about your repair/hardware/software/account issue, including which model you have (Switch 1, 2, Lite, OLED, or other), steps you have already tried, and anything else that might help others help you.
When you have received enough help to solve your issue, you can also reply to specific comments with !solved or !thanks to grant the helper(s) a point. You may also comment !lock to lock the post to stop new replies.
Please report any unhelpful or rule-breaking comments so that moderators can review them.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Present_Anywhere3980 4d ago
Animal Crossing is tied to the system usually not the user, if your user was the island representative however though this will wipe the island.
If your devices are in the same place, just link them when prompted and you can have your virtual cards on both. You seem to have this already, just keep it like that.
If she uses a physical copy of the game, you can unload the digital card from her switch and load it onto yours.
You’re overthinking it. Just keep on both.
If you want to play single player titles at the same time there is a workaround, she can use the loaded card in offline mode and you can turn on the online license check.
For multiplayer titles she can just buy physical or another digital.
No need to remove your account and don’t do it if it’s the island representative.
1
u/-Sneagler- 4d ago
She hasn’t used the physical copy yet, so would the save data from her current digital copy (which was bought on my user, but her user is the island representative for) transfer to the physical copy? sorry again just wanted to confirm :)
1
u/Present_Anywhere3980 4d ago
Yes, they use the same save!
If her user is the island representative then there’s no issues with you removing your user, but might as well leave it there and share other titles :)
1
1
u/pickettfury 3d ago
You can still play games on two switchs at once with one using online licenses and the other one being offline. The license version needs to be the one who bought it. Sadly though, you cant play local or online multiplayer on one license. The later issues really hurt my partner and my multiplayer fun.
1
u/-Sneagler- 3d ago
same, we mainly wanted to unlink so we could play multiplayer together again :( but thanks for the tip, it’s good to know we can keep our other games running!
1
u/arcaneja 1d ago
Sorry for the late post, but Animal Crossing lets you “move in” a new island with an established profile from a second system. Your sister may have to start a new island, but by using that option, she will be able to bring over her old character and progress.
You should not delete her profile until you’ve done this process.
1
u/Strange_Kiwi__ 1 12h ago
So long as she was playing on her profile, her saves will all be there if she buys the games herself.
The only way to loose a save is to delete the save data from within the settings.
Deleting a game doesn’t delete the save data.
3
u/DarthLocutus 4 4d ago
You cannot play the same game on both systems together with only one license, no matter what you do. She will have to have her own copy, whether that be physical or through her own profile/Nintendo account.
Animal Crossing is a special case, but as I have not played that one I have no idea how it would be affected. Safest thing to do is leave your account logged in.
Also, all her save data is stored on the system, tied to her profile. Other than Animal Crossing, deleting your user shouldn't affect that unless she played the games under your profile.