Nintendo Switch Online Library’s First Game Removal Is Coming Next Month

Beginning March 28, exactly one month from this writing, the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service will lose its first game. As first announced on Twitter by Nintendo, Super Formation Soccer, a Super Famicom (SNES) title, will be removed from the NSO Japanese library.

When the title does leave the service, it’ll mark the first time that a game from the library has been removed since its initial inception in 2018. At this moment, it’s unclear whether Super Soccer, which is the translated version of the game in the West, will also be removed.

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Switch Online Was Pegged As A Virtual Console Replacement

Whereas the Wii, Wii U and 3DS had the Virtual Console, which allowed players to outright purchase and own titles from Nintendo’s past, the company replaced that feature with Nintendo Switch Online.

It’s unclear exactly why that decision was made, though earlier this year, it was rumored that the feature would have been “too costly” on the Switch, specifically the need to have multiple emulators. In its place, NSO not only gives players online functionality, but provides a Netflix-like updated catalog of titles, including some rather important titles from its history.

Of course, the benefit of a Virtual Console lies in its ability to let gamers outright own the title. And while the system did have its fair share of delisted titles, it never precluded people who owned the game from ever accessing it again. Though Super Soccer isn’t exactly Ocarina of Time, it does set a precedent that nothing is forever on the service, likely giving future gamers pause.

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