Nintendo freezes Switch Sports online service after repeated crashes

Philip Trahan
Nintendo switch sports header

Nintendo has temporarily disabled online services for Switch Sports after the most recent update caused repeated crashes before matches.

Earlier this year, Nintendo followed up its best-selling video game, Wii Sports, with a spiritual successor for the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch Sports allowed players to challenge friends locally and online to six different games at launch, with golf coming later as a free DLC update.

Unfortunately, Nintendo has decided to temporarily disable Switch Sports’ online services following a recent update that caused repeated crashes during pre-match loading.

Nintendo temporarily disables Switch Sports online services

Nintendo Switch Sports mii sword fighting versus avatarWhile Wii Sports didn’t allow players to compete against each other online, Nintendo Switch Sports remedied this shortcoming.

The issues began when Nintendo rolled out the version 1.2.1 update on October 12, 2022, for Switch Sports which was originally meant to combat online cheaters.

The patch notes said the update was meant to “strengthen measures against disruptive behaviors” and noted that players who violated Nintendo’s Community Guidelines would be suspended from online play.

However, the update instead caused repeated crashes for players trying to load into games.

Initially, Nintendo took steps to resolve the issues by temporarily freezing online matches and cloud saving, before halting the 1.2.1 update rollout altogether, according to Nintendo Japan’s customer service Twitter account.

A few hours later, Nintendo UK’s Twitter account confirmed the situation: “Whilst we investigate to find a solution, NintendoSwitchSports servers will be temporarily taken offline and online play will not be available during this time. Save data backup is also temporarily suspended. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”

Unfortunately, it’s still unclear when Nintendo will release the next update that’s meant to restore Switch Sports’ online service and fix the repeated crashing issue.

Though it likely won’t be very long, interested fans should keep an eye on Nintendo UK’s official Twitter account for any future updates regarding Switch Sports.

About The Author

Philip is a Staff Writer at Dexerto based in Louisiana, with expertise in Pokemon, Apex Legends, and general gaming industry news. His first job in the games industry was as a reviewer with NintendoEverything.com while attending college. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication focusing on Multimedia Journalism, he worked with GameRant.com for nearly two years before joining Dexerto. When he's not writing he's usually tearing through some 80+ hour JRPG. You can contact him at philip.trahan@dexerto.com.