Buyers of Nintendo Switch 2 Used Games Get Banned But There’s a Solution

Have you ever purchased used games? Nintendo Switch 2 users are finding a bit of complication caused by a security feature. But it can be resolved smoothly. Read on because we have the details for you.

Nintendo Switch 2 Used Games

Switch 2 users – be careful buying used Switch 1 games. You can get banned if a bad actor dumped it. Having said that, Nintendo support is amazing and will help get you back up and running.
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A Nintendo Switch 2 user recently found themself banned after playing a used game they purchased from Facebook Marketplace. The issue came up when they downloaded patches for the Nintendo Switch 1 games they bought. They were rewarded by receiving a ban on Nintendo Online. The upset gamer headed to social media, but a Reddit poster who is familiar with the issue shared how they fixed it.

They also seem to be used to dealing with customer support from manufacturers because they closed their post by saying, “So much easier than getting support from Microsoft or Sony.” You gotta love a customer service story that was a positive experience! Give kudos where deserved, friends.

Why This Happened

Here’s the deal. There are some dishonest folks out there. We know you’re honest people, so this isn’t something you’d know about. But, there are people who see profit in copying games and selling the illegal copies. They use a device to copy the game cartridges, then they put the copies up for sale as used games. But, the trouble for users is that each game cartridge has a unique identifier on it, which prevents piracy.

The copies include that unique identifier. So, if you buy an illegal copy (or even a legit one that’s been copied), when you go online with it, the network sees two games with the same identifier and flags them. That causes the ban.

So What Now?

Don’t worry, friends. Go ahead and keep using your used games. Since Nintendo Switch 2 is backwards compatible, this may happen more often. So, we’re grateful for the community that shares what they know so that folks can keep gaming freely.