March 25 Will Be the End of an Era for Nintendo

My Nintendo Gold Points are being discontinued on March 25. That date will hence mark the end of an era for Nintendo‘s long-running loyalty program, which has supported Gold Points for nearly seven years.

My Nintendo launched internationally in March 2016. Two years later, Nintendo expanded the loyalty program with the introduction of Gold Points, which its customers were able to earn through Switch game purchases. Eligible digital products yield 5% of their purchase price in Gold Points, while physical Switch games provide 1%. The main benefit of My Nintendo Gold Points is that they can be used toward digital eShop purchases, with each point equivalent to a $0.01 / €0.01 discount.

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On February 28, Nintendo announced plans to sunset this key perk of its loyalty program. Gold Points will be discontinued on March 25, 2025, at 12:30am ET. The Japanese gaming giant did not elaborate on the reasons for this decision, but it did provide some additional details on how the discontinuation will affect Switch owners.

Existing My Nintendo Gold Points Will Remain Usable Up to 2026

The March 25 discontinuation will only prevent My Nintendo users from earning new Gold Points via digital purchases and registering physical cartridges released after that date. All the currency tied to one’s account on March 25 will remain available to spend afterward, in accordance with the platform’s existing limitations. Since Gold Points expire on the final day of the month 12 months after being earned, some users will still be able to spend them as late as March 31, 2026.

My Nintendo Platinum Points Aren’t Going Anywhere

The upcoming discontinuation won’t mark the end of My Nintendo. The loyalty program will continue offering Platinum Points, which can be earned through a variety of game and mobile app activities, many of which don’t require fans to spend any money. Platinum Points expire six months after being earned, and can be used for ordering limited-time merch and downloading digital goodies like wallpapers, among other benefits.

Gold Points will be discontinued just one week before the first Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct, which is expected to yield new details about the upcoming console and its services. The proximity of the two events sparked some fan speculation that Nintendo might replace Gold Points with a new system, but the company has given no clear indication of such plans. Additionally, if the decision was simply to prevent customers from using Gold Points for Switch 2 game discounts, there’s no clear reason to discontinue them for existing Switch owners. Instead, Nintendo could have treated them as Switch game vouchers, which it just recently confirmed will be incompatible with Switch 2 titles—but won’t be discontinued.

Source: Nintendo Support