For point 1, this sounds like a class action waiting to happen.
You buy a Nintendo console, Nintendo says you broke the rules and bans that console, now non-Nintendo games won’t work on it because it’s banned from reaching online services.
I’m going to spoiler tag all the Nintendo legal-ese because it’s A LOT.
It boils down to this console is banned from logging in online. So a couple of questions:
Do you HAVE to be online to play Switch 2 games?
If the ban is correct for user violations, why ban the hardware? Why not ban the account?
spoilernintendo.com/…/error-codes-2124-4007-2124-4508/?s…You’re unable to connect to an online service and you receive the error code 2124-4007 or 2124-4508. You receive the error message “The use of online services on this console is currently restricted by Nintendo.” What to do: This error code indicates that the Nintendo Switch console you are using has been permanently banned from connecting to the internet due to a breach of the user agreements. A breach of user agreements may include, but is not limited to, activities such as: Fraudulent or unauthorized transactions Violation of the Code of Conduct accounts.nintendo.com/term/eula/AU5 Nintendo Code of Conduct When using the Nintendo Account Service, you must comply with the Nintendo Code of Conduct and ensure that your Nintendo Account is not used in breach of the Nintendo Code of Conduct. The Nintendo Code of Conduct prohibits all illegal, harmful or otherwise inappropriate conduct, including, but not limited to, the following: Illegal, harassing, hateful, defamatory, embarrassing, offensive, obscene, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable actions performed with the Nintendo Account; Soliciting, accessing, storing or distributing prohibited materials; Providing any incorrect or false data when registering or using the Nintendo Account; Submitting false reports (either in a game or through an online service) regarding other users or content; Making, sharing or playing unauthorised copies of games, applications, software, add-on content, music, images, videos and other content available via the Nintendo Account Service; making new versions of Digital Products or other content available via the Nintendo Account Service (“derivatives”); Using cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorised device or software designed to modify the Nintendo Account Service or any part of it or using any unauthorised User Device or any unauthorised modification of a User Device; attempting to derive source code of the Nintendo Account Service; Gaining unauthorised access to any of Nintendo’s computers, hardware, equipment, servers or networks used to support the Nintendo Account Service; hosting, intercepting, emulating, reverse engineering any part of the Nintendo Account Service or redirecting the communication protocols used by Nintendo as part of the Nintendo Account Service, regardless of the method used to do so; Engaging in any commercial or advertising activity, or arranging meetings using a Nintendo Account; Selling, trading, assigning or otherwise transferring a Nintendo Account to another person or entity; Posting, sending or otherwise making available via Nintendo Account Service any content that infringes the rights of others, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy rights, portrait rights or other intellectual property or proprietary rights; Posting, sending or otherwise making available via Nintendo Account Service any content that contains personal information (including photos, images and videos) of any third party without their permission; Selling, trading, assigning, licensing, or otherwise conveying virtual property for real money or for funds credited to a Nintendo Account, where “virtual property” refers to any features of games or other content that can be traded with other users for free or for in-game virtual currency; Fraudulent activities performed in relation to the Nintendo Account Service (in particular in relation to transactions in Nintendo Shopping Services).
I kinda had the opposite experience, I had been a PC gamer for years before the Xbox came out, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Aliens Total Conversion, Hexen, Rise of the Triad, Quake, Unreal…
By then I had kind of burned out on FPS, so when I heard about Halo I was like “I dunno… another FPS…”
Then I played a demo in the store and was like “Shut up and take my money!”
Valve really operates in a different market from Microsoft or Sony, but what hurt them was a couple of things:
Repeatedly skipping Gamescom essentially told Sony “Yeah, we don’t care about Europe.” And the sales numbers show it. Sony owns Europe.
No differential between console and PC. Launching the same game at the same time on PC and Xbox doesn’t incentivize people to a) buy games on Xbox or b) develop games on Xbox. Why bother if it’s on PC the same day?
Focusing on digital vs. physical takes games out of stores. On a recent trip to Target they had a nice big Playstation section and a nice big Switch section. Hey? Where are the Xbox games?
“released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on May 30, 2025. It received generally positive reviews and sold 3.5 million units.[1]”
So, first, it doesn’t matter how many concurrent players it has, it sold 3.5 million so it’s not a flop.
Second, it was released on 5 platforms, you are looking at concurrent players on Steam only.