Nintendo has blocked two Switch consoles from playing an online game simultaneously through account sharing.
Nintendo released update 20.0.0 for the Switch today, adding its new Virtual Game Card system. Users are reporting that upon updating their consoles, those who have account sharing enabled can no longer play the same online multiplayer game at the same time, despite enabling the Use Online License setting. Nintendo had previously acknowledged the ability to play every game simultaneously via account sharing in an official FAQ (web archive available here). However, it has now been modified to reflect that the feature is no longer available.
As per the official FAQ, if multiple users want to play the same digital game at the same time, the user that purchased the game should play on a system that is not the shared console (a non-primary console). This console will need to have an active internet connection. Furthermore, the user that did not purchase the game should play on the shared console (the primary console for the user that purchased the game).
It’s worth clarifying that Nintendo Switch users who have account sharing enabled can still play the same game simultaneously as long as they aren’t using its online features at the same time. In order to do so, they need to keep the Use Online License setting enabled. For example, those who share Nintendo accounts can still play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe simultaneously, but only one of them can head online and compete against other players in multiplayer races.
Nintendo had previously stated that the arrival of the new Virtual Game Card system would have no bearing on the existing game sharing functionality. However, this is not the case, as those who had account sharing enabled were able to play online multiplayer titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 3, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the same time without any hurdle.
