Switch a Switch

November 4, 2020 1:01 PM

We think we want to buy a second Nintendo Switch. Can we disentangle ourselves and get everything we want on two separate devices? If we can, I need step-by-step instructions.

We currently own one Switch, but I'm going to be away from home for an extended period of time soon. I figured I could buy a second Switch to bring with me, but I want to make sure we can both be satisfied with the outcome.

The problem is with Animal Crossing. I bought a physical copy of it, and I am the "primary resident" in our game on our current system. My partner would like to keep playing Animal Crossing while I'm away. I realize that if I leave the SD card at home, I won't be able to play it.

I have a lot of other digital content I'd like to put on any new Switch. I also subscribe to Nintendo Online (partner does not but we can pay for it if it will make this easier).

Is this going to be easy to do? I know managing multiple Switches can be a huge pain, hence the question. What I'd ideally like to end up with is:

Partner: Switch at home, connected to the internet, playing Animal Crossing (and nothing else!)
Me: Traveling with Switch, no internet, digital purchases migrated over

posted by backseatpilot to Technology (5 answers total)

I'm not sure about this. If it were a different game I think the ability to play Animal Crossing would have to stay with the physical card and you could migrate your other games to the new Switch. But since you're the "primary resident," I think the Animal Crossing island is attached to you as its primary resident, and I wonder if your partner would have to start over on a new island?

You might try asking this in one of the Nintendo or Animal Crossing subreddits...
posted by hungrytiger at 1:37 PM on November 4, 2020

I’m fuzzy on some of the details but can give you things to look into further. If partner wants to continue playing the same animal crossing island you would need to leave behind SWITCH1 with a copy of animal crossing to play (can be same SD card or a new copy of ACNH.) if they used the old physical copy of ACNH in SWITCH2 it just creates a new island.

I believe you can put downloaded games on to SWITCH2 by making a family account.
posted by raccoon409 at 1:59 PM on November 4, 2020

Nintendo's Australia website says this about Online accounts:

"Players using a Family Membership can access the Nintendo Switch Online service via the same Nintendo Switch system or multiple systems – everyone does not have to use the same system."

Assuming it works the same in the U.S. (or wherever you are going to be), you could upgrade to a family account and have online access on both devices.
posted by tacodave at 2:13 PM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Animal Crossing is your bugaboo here. As you've already noticed, you can only have one AC island per Switch and, as of this writing, there's no way to move the island to a new Switch. For your partner to play AC while you're traveling, you'll need to leave that Switch home and you will not be able to play AC on 'your' island, even if you had a second copy of the game.

The rest of your downloadable content should be accessible from the second Switch. Because you say you won't have Internet access, you'll want to make the new Switch your 'primary' device, as 'secondary' devices require constant Internet access. Take a look at this support page for more info.
posted by hanov3r at 3:58 PM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Nintendo is releaseing a software patch that addresses this very thing on November 18th 2020.

Full details here but the most important part for original AskMe poster is probably this:


"Resident Move (Single Player Transfer)

Use this feature if you wish to transfer just one resident to a new Nintendo Switch system. The resident, the resident’s home, and most items held by the resident and kept in storage will be transferred to an island on the new Nintendo Switch system. The island resident representative cannot be transferred.

This feature is helpful when just one player wants to continue playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons on a new Nintendo Switch or when multiple residents other than the island resident representative will be using the new Nintendo Switch. The transferred player(s) will move to a new island if there is no existing save data on the new system. If there is already an island populated on the new system, the resident(s) will move to that island. All island progress and animal neighbours will remain on the original Nintendo Switch system.

You must have access to both the original system and the new system to use this feature. "

posted by Faintdreams at 9:32 AM on November 17, 2020