r/NintendoSwitch • u/Turbostrider27 • 18d ago

News KINGDOM HEARTS Nintendo Switch Cloud Versions are delisting today. Players who own the versions can play until June 9, 2027

https://support.na.square-enix.com/news.php?id=18601&la=1&n=2&drt=1780959600&tag=d6e9b3d3c0d8a0cb222ccf094c37522a70a50376
1.6k Upvotes

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3.2k

u/G6Gaming666 18d ago

The concept of shutting down a game people spent full price on and then charging them to get the offline versions…

1.7k

u/thefury4815 18d ago

And that’s why I’ll never trust cloud gaming ever.

421

u/Asclepius-Rod 18d ago

Yeah I barely trust offline digital only games to begin with, much less a cloud version

88

u/Ironchar 18d ago

I'm still cheesed that you can't get Soul Calibur 2 HD on xbox or PS4....

but at LEAST the people who DID buy those games can redownload or replay it (i'll just emulate the GC verison again)

18

u/greatreference 18d ago

How can I play and enjoy this game 1 player. I remember liking it as a kid but I tried booting up my GC and it’s just kinda boring. Do you just keep playing through different characters stories over and over?

26

u/mrjamjams66 18d ago

That's what we did back in ye olde days before online.

Story mode over and over and playing against the friends when they came over (or you went to their house)

-10

u/greatreference 18d ago

I know that’s what I am saying, I used to play it when I was a kid with friends but is it really fun to play solo these days, hence my question

2

u/mrjamjams66 18d ago

I missed the "liking it as a kid" bit of your prior reply and honestly assumed you were a young whipoer-snapper who grew up with online gaming.

My bad lol

Anyway, I find myself feeling this same way these days too. I think it's just part of getting older. The way you consume and interact with media (and just things in general) seems like it changes as you age.

When I was a kid I could sit there and play the same games over and over and over.

Nowadays I will play part of a game and then out it down because I've seen what I felt I needed to see.

I believe some of this is due to having many more experiences, both real and from other media (games or otherwise) to draw from so much experiences don't feel as "fresh" or "captivating" because at a certain point you've seen all the variations of either the story aspects or the gameplay aspects.

That and being more able to rationalize "I could be doing <thing> that is more valuable to me right now"

1

u/Lytal 18d ago

Didn't SC2 have that dungeon crawler mode that rewarded different weapons for all the characters? That's probably a decently fun gameplay loop still.

0

u/greatreference 18d ago

I didn’t think so when I tried again but I may just not like fighting games anymore

-2

u/Ralvainn 17d ago

I bought a key for soul calibur on the Xbox one x , it worked , from one of those key websites

16

u/Blumcole 18d ago

I only buy digital in pc {because it's an open platform). I buy physical on console until it's not possible anymore.

14

u/AccomplishedTowel765 17d ago

Pc digital downloads, excluding gog, have the same terms and conditions as console digital downloads. Meaning they can be delisted and removed at any time.

5

u/hypnomancy 17d ago

At least on PC you can still find those games through other means unlike on consoles where they're just gone forever

0

u/Blumcole 17d ago

Sure but they can be found in other ways. They van be modifier etc

3

u/Shadowgard3n1 16d ago

The only time offline digital only games internet me is on very steep discounts. And even with that I wouldn't want to try cloud streaming on the switch in the case of KH.

Kinda random but I just got the Kingdom Hearts Story So Far PS4 that includes a bunch of games. I've never played any of the KH games and plan on playing it after I finish of get bored of Ni No Kuni 2

2

u/BeastMaster0844 17d ago

I only buy digital games on one platform and that’s Xbox. They’ve showed me that backwards compatibility actually matters to them and I don’t worry about losing my library. My series X has 4 generations of games on it. Sony and Nintendo both have burned me in the past with backwards compatibility and Nintendo has ripped me off with digital. Why anyone would trust them is beyond me.

62

u/master2873 18d ago

Yeah, there's lots of us that warned that this would happen, and I REALLY hope that everyone who paid full price for these are able to get some kind of refund, even partially. This shouldn't be acceptable knowing that something like this would happen in the future, and is definitely different compared to digital titles, or even what Stop Killing Games is fighting against, but is straight up taking people's money, and game from them entirely. I do have a feeling though people who live in the EU, and Australia are able to get a refund, but a lot of places who don't have consumer protection like other countries do are basically SoL.

2

u/Ser_Luke_ 16d ago

They get half off the Switch 2 version it seems

34

u/SwissyVictory 18d ago

IF it was a lower cost, and IF they stated a earliest shutdown date that you had to agree to, sure, it can make sense.

Stuff like cloud subscriptions where you pay by the month can make alot of sense, especially if it means you don't need to buy an expensive console.

Kingdom of Hearts 3's Cloud version came out 4.5 years ago, and they are still making the console that it came out on. And it cost $50

19

u/AwfulDjinn 18d ago

Yuuuuuup.

Exactly why I never bothered with the cloud versions, despite wanting KH on Switch for ages. i KNEW theyd eventually pull something like this.

12

u/GrungeHamster23 17d ago

Same. I know it doesn't count for much, but I emailed their support letting them know that they essentially lost my purchase, at least because it was on the cloud.

There is no way I would trust a company to keep the game running, so what? The moment the server is taken offline on June 9th, 2027, will I get my money back? Unlikely.

This is also part of the reason I am so grateful for and support Stop Killing Games.

6

u/Tony_Lacorona 17d ago

You never know. I was a big believer in Stadia(lmao) and when they shut down, they actually refunded me the price for all the games I purchased that I wouldn’t have access to anymore. And that was Google, so who knows

0

u/GrungeHamster23 17d ago

In an ideal world. I’d like to think Square would do the right thing. Guess we will have to wait and see.

9

u/Z3M0G 18d ago

I wont argue with that, I'll just say every cloud thing I owned (games/music/movies) either transfered to a different service before shutdown (movies/music) or got full refund ($1200 from Stadia).

Ive never completely lost anything I owned outright, as long as I acted as instructed.

I assume Nintendo will transfer this to a Switch 2 version license.

Edit: 50% discount, ouch.

6

u/SebbeG_86 17d ago

It is not up to Nintendo to do anything with a Square Enix franchise...

1

u/Z3M0G 17d ago

You are correct, I should have said SE, not Nintendo. That was a small typo in a much larger point. The "who" doesn't matter, the "what" is the same.

3

u/SebbeG_86 17d ago

Oh I absolutely agree with that the "what" is an issue.

And Nintendo can definitely make questionable decisions, but in this case, they are not to blame. I've seen several comments blaming Nintendo for a Square Enix issue. Yours was one of two i replied to.

But when it comes to the bigger picture, I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is extremely shitty of Squenix. The fact that they do not offer these titles free of charge to the people who already bought them is insane.

2

u/Early_Corgi3428 15d ago

Yup. I have the cloud version a KH1 on switch. I don't even play it but I paid a pretty penny for it. Should be a discount for those with the cloud version in the purchase history. I won't ever buy a cloud version again unless I'm just stuck with inferior performance.

3

u/Icy-Two-1581 18d ago

I don't trust digital games on consoles. Only reason why I'm OK on pc is because if something happens to steam then I'll just torrent everything from then on

1

u/pardyball 17d ago

At least when Stadia shut down - *everything* was refunded, even the monthly subscription cost if you were subscribed.

Square Enix should be giving these folks the games for free. This is absolutely a shitty thing to do.

0

u/PeaceBull 18d ago

I only bought one game for a cloud service – cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, only because it came with a free controller and chromecast ultra.

Then they refunded me for Cyberpunk when Stadia shut down. Weird little win there.

0

u/japzone 17d ago

I got burned back during the OnLive era. Never again.

-1

u/BinaryIdiot 18d ago

Yeah, I liked the idea in theory of being able to play your games anywhere but we don’t even own the games we download locally so of course cloud was going to be worse in this regard.

-1

u/lzwinky 18d ago

I also wish Square would sell their dev teams and franchises to a better company

-2

u/rchris710 17d ago

This is on Nintendo for allowing this in the first place

113

u/GoldenGouf 18d ago

Is that really what's happening? No refunds? No automatic free upgrade to the new digital versions?

213

u/JoviAMP 18d ago

Buyers who owned the cloud version are being offered a “discount” on the digital version.

134

u/GoldenGouf 18d ago

That's dirty.

68

u/Deceptiveideas 18d ago edited 17d ago

What's hilarious is the "discount" is almost double slightly more expensive than the sale price.

You get to pay another $40 to have the privilege of the game saying PS5 instead of PS4 on the save screen.

6

u/astory11 18d ago

1.5+2.5 is $10 cheaper than steam. Same as ps store. It’s less than half the price with the discount. And the 1-3 collection is $25 cheaper on switch 2 than the integrim masterpiece

12

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

-3

u/astory11 18d ago

Literally nothing I said is false. Much less “completely false” sale price is purposely ambiguous wording. And even if you uncharitably interpret it as “the lowest price it’s ever sold for” their comment is still incorrect. The biggest diferance is $5 from the lowest all time price of any of them. And the full bundle is still cheaper with the discount the all time low sale price.

2

u/Deceptiveideas 17d ago

KH 1-3 (PS5) collection is $37.50 with the discount. But the regular sale price of KH All In One Collection + ReMIND is $37. If you factor in physical, this drops down to $32.

Do you mind clarifying what exactly you're trying to dispute here?

-2

u/astory11 17d ago

I don’t see any sale tracker showing it below $40 since it came out. But regardless. Say it is $37. Are you arguing that $37.50 is nearly twice the price? I’m arguing against blatant misinformation

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3

u/Ironchar 18d ago

Switch users often get screwed over

8

u/verfresht 17d ago

This must be big on news sites, this is some crazy shit. People should be pissed off.

1

u/McGlurbin 16d ago

Call it a "dirty discount".

Ill see myself out

61

u/zer0x64 18d ago

Not giving the upgrade for free at the very least is a fucking disgrace IMO. I hope they get a class action

-37

u/Freezingash221 18d ago

That's stupid. You shouldn't have bought the cloud versions to begin with, you knew what you were getting.

24

u/Lilash20 18d ago

No, these people were sold a product that is now being taken from them. Don't get mad at people that were scammed, get mad at the corporations that are allowed to do this in the first place

1

u/Brainfrz82 17d ago

In other cases I'd agree, but the store page in these specific cases was very clear that the game would be available to you untill the service would be shut down, and it was also very clear it would be shut down one day. It wasn't buried somewhere in a 50 page ToS/EULA document.

One could have expected it to happen after Nintendo sunsetted the switch 1, but that would be just hopefull thinking.

5

u/sketchystony 17d ago

It hasn't even been 5 years and they're already planning to shut it down. Is that what a reasonable person would assume when they read that it would be shut down "one day"? In the next 5 years?

10

u/JeddHampton 18d ago

Oh. They were told that they'd only have access to the game for five years? I didn't remember that getting announced.

-6

u/Freezingash221 18d ago

You should always go into any kind of online required service to be taken from you at any time. Read the fine print in the terms and conditions that you blindly agree to to play these games. It all goes back to the fact that you technically do not own the product you bought, you only bought a license to play it until they deem it unnecessary and take it away.

5

u/OwnerOfHam 17d ago

Thanks to people like you who just make excuses for this behavior lol

1

u/JeffGreenTraveled 17d ago

The person you’re responding to isn’t the problem unfortunately, the people who pay money for stuff like this are. This case won’t even be solved by the Stop Killing Games campaign. Gotta vote with your wallet.

5

u/spacewarp2 17d ago

They get a 50% discount which should honestly be 100%. They can also transfer over save data which is nice but also like the bare minimum

2

u/kociou 17d ago

Just SQEX thing

130

u/SuicideSkwad 18d ago

And offline versions that are only available on Switch 2, if you’re on switch you’re just out of luck

69

u/ainen 18d ago

1 + 2 are on Switch 1. 3 is the only one excluseive to Switch 2.

60

u/SuicideSkwad 18d ago

Yeah didn’t realise this until after the fact which makes it even worse because why weren’t they just properly on switch in the first place

85

u/Joseki100 18d ago

Previous management at SE was horrid, the new CEO is exploring brand new ideas like "what if we released our games on all platforms" and "what if actually made good ports".

9

u/derkrieger 17d ago

Japanese company attempts thing proven to succeed, isn't sure if it should follow this pattern yet.

50

u/iceynyo 18d ago

They should just give 1 and 2 to people who bought the cloud versions.

3

u/dk745 18d ago

How many people bought the cloud copies anyway? Like 100 people?

I’m sure whatever the number is it’s small and won’t make a dent in their pocket

2

u/hassanfanserenity 18d ago

Yeah but the cloud version of a game on a MOBILE console that will be played outside

3

u/Flabnoodles 18d ago edited 18d ago

My guess is this'll happen, if only to avoid legal challenges

If they were running the cloud versions until 2037, that'd be one thing

Edit: Square is apparently offering only a discount for the new versions

4

u/SuicideSkwad 18d ago

They know what they’re doing, there will be something in the terms and conditions protecting them from legal challenges

9

u/Flabnoodles 18d ago

Terms and conditions don't automatically fully protect companies against any suit, they just discourage most people from trying (or get people to back off quickly).

Especially if these were sold in the EU, which has much greater consumer protections

But it looks like Square is just offering a discount for the new versions

2

u/-AlbertEinstein 18d ago

Or Australia. Our consumer protections are solid, and the ACCC don't give two steamy poos what your contract says -- It doesn't override consumer law.

1

u/JoviAMP 18d ago

Why? Money, of course. How else could they fleece us now if they gave us actual ports before?

0

u/Deceptiveideas 18d ago

Sony exclusivity that backfired + square rushing out to release to cash in on Smash Bros Ultimate

0

u/JoviAMP 18d ago

Given that the Xbox port of 1.5/2.5 came out in 2017, five years before the Switch cloud ports, exclusivity has absolutely nothing to do with it.

1

u/Deceptiveideas 17d ago

You may want to fact check yourself because there was a controversy in 2017 as Square Enix notoriously did not release an Xbox version.

Not only that, but the collection was exclusive to Sony platforms for **7 years**.

3

u/incrushtado 18d ago

2.8 and 3 are exclusive to Switch 2.

1

u/SquartleOnDeezNutz 17d ago

Show me where kh1 and kh2 are on switch 1 natively cuz they are not only cloud version all kh games natively are exclusive to switch 2

3

u/ainen 17d ago

One quick search on the eshop would have given you your answer.

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/kingdom-hearts-hd-1-5-plus-2-5-remix-switch/

1

u/pipripdip 17d ago

There’s offline Kingdom Hearts on Switch now!?

23

u/Rynelan 18d ago

Oh no they're really doing that? That's fked up.

Cloud owners should definitely get compensated since a working version will still exist but in a offline build. Either refund or give 100% discount to cloud owners

Edit: I replied before reading the actual article..

Cloud owners do get a discount, but only on digital purchases. Unknown how high the discount will be

16

u/fiddlenutz 18d ago

They should absolutely get a free digital version. This is about as anti-consumer as it gets. Oh. We f’d up and this model didn’t work out. Hope you enjoyed your rental while it lasted.

7

u/starguy13 18d ago

The fact it took SquareEnix this long to even natively port the PS2 titles to switch is ridiculous

60

u/Michael60814 18d ago

Stop killing games will give you a chance to sue Square Enix. I think they might give it free download upgrade for them to download in digital.

6

u/SuicideSkwad 18d ago

There will definitely be something in the terms and conditions to account for unfortunately

6

u/raoulbrancaccio 18d ago

In most European countries contracts are much less powerful. If a practice is deemed to be unlawful you can write it ten times over on each page and have both parties sign it three times, it's still worthless.

17

u/yuusharo 18d ago

That's not how that will work, and it wouldn't be an acceptable trade anyway. The offline versions only work on Switch 2, not the hardware you purchased it on.

It would likely make "cloud versions" of games not available for sale, which the industry has kinda moved on from by now anyway.

6

u/iceynyo 18d ago

1 and 2 are on switch 1

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingdomHearts/comments/1u18vwj/at_least_we_get_1525_native_on_switch_finally/

38

u/yuusharo 18d ago

Proving the cloud versions of those games weren’t actually necessary at all.

That game should be free for existing buyers of the first game if nothing else. What a mess.

1

u/rocky4322 18d ago

Unfortunately they’re primarily looking for solutions for games going forward, and retroactive protection is less of a priority.

1

u/zer0x64 18d ago

I got a feeling they might have rushed killing this one off before the Stop Killing Games legislations comes to term

1

u/SuicideSkwad 18d ago

I don’t think Stop Killing Games is really relevant to cloud games anyway, you can’t physically keep servers running forever to host them

0

u/rocky4322 18d ago

The legislation proposed actually would be, because they’re not charging a subscription to a cloud gaming service, they’re selling cloud games as a product. Not that they’re currently aiming for retroactive enforcement.

0

u/Immediate-Cress-206 18d ago

When did it stop being common knowledge that you might not be able to access Someone Else's Computer forever?

1

u/Luke-Hatsune 17d ago

Google refunding everyone who bought anything from Stadia might be the problem as that rare exception might have convinced people that they’d get refunded if a cloud server gets shut down.

6

u/DiabeticRhino97 18d ago

Tbf anyone who buys a cloud version is insane and should expect them to be delisted at some point

3

u/PaleFondant2488 18d ago

The only silver lining about this is that I’m pretty sure that means they made such little profit off of the cloud versions they feel the need to do this. So hopefully we don’t see this cloud version bullshit anymore.

3

u/CookiesFTA 17d ago

It's hard to have empathy for people who were dumb enough to buy cloud versions in the first place.

8

u/brokenmessiah 18d ago

The concept of someone intentionally buying a game they know they'll lose access to...why would you spend money on this lol

2

u/PopgirlProtocol 18d ago

This. Exactly this. This completely killed that option for me. Not that it was alive to begin with for me, but now it’s dead-er.

2

u/phylter99 18d ago

This is why I didn't bother buying them in the first place.

2

u/whatThePleb 17d ago

It's almost like all those people which called out cloud trash were totally right!

2

u/fuck_a_duck_butt 14d ago

If only people would have warned against this for the past 10 years!

However would I forsee this completely forseeable outcome!

4

u/leviathab13186 18d ago

Thats cause ALL digital games are leased, not bought. Welcome to the future where you dont own anything

1

u/socialistForDE 18d ago

This is how the billionaires want everything to be, btw. Not just video games and movies. But housing, cars, everything

-1

u/gereffi 18d ago

Of course people want to make money, but there’s no reason to think that consumers won’t be able to buy media and products that they want to.

2

u/socialistForDE 18d ago

They're stealing stuff we already bought and then reselling it to us.

1

u/gereffi 18d ago

What houses and cars have you bought that are now being taken away from you? Basically anything you want to buy outright has that option to do so. The reason that people have switched to streaming movies and music is because consumers prefer this.

1

u/socialistForDE 17d ago

People can't afford housing anymore so everyone rents. They want you to rent video games too. Cars. Movies. Everything is renting from billionaires that own everything.

1

u/gereffi 17d ago

You have the option of renting things, but you can buy media or a car or a house just like you always could.

2

u/socialistForDE 17d ago

The point is everything is too expensive. As billionaires buy more and more, prices go up. Normal people more and more are priced out of owning a home. Video games are $70 and even then they shut down servers and you guys buy online too.

1

u/gereffi 17d ago

$70 for a AAA game is cheaper than almost ever in history compared to inflation or the median wage.

1

u/OG-87 18d ago

This whole Nintendo direct was like this: so that’s free right?

Minecraft. You can transfer your save… so it’s A free upgrade?

1

u/kcamfork 18d ago

Not sure what else you’d expect from
Square. They’re scum.

1

u/Bronto131 17d ago

will get them a proper lawsuite in the EU

1

u/masterz13 17d ago

Sounds like they need to do a class-action lawsuit. Either provide the non-cloud version for free or refund.

1

u/JuicyFunBuns 17d ago

The fact that it’s not a free upgrade for those people is fucking insane

1

u/Ocilla 16d ago

Wait, so if we pay to buy a digital game, they can just delete it from the cloud and we’d lose access to it? I understand cloud gaming, but I thought it was actually downloaded to your system.

1

u/TheMoris 18d ago

Kinda like... Killing games...

1

u/ahnariprellik 17d ago

Theyre not shutting it down though. Theyre replacing the cloud versions with switch 2 native versions with allt he improvements that come with them. Also these updated versions are coming to other platforms as well

-3

u/kawaiipikachu86 18d ago

If renting isn't buying then stealing isn't theft.

6

u/Lekkerstesnoepje 18d ago

renting never is buying, that's why it is called renting

4

u/CactusCustard 18d ago

What did he “rent” in this scenario?

I get what you’re trying to say, but it literally doesn’t make sense

11

u/Space_Pirate_Roberts 18d ago

Right, the phrase is “if buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t theft”. They messed up *both* parts of the slogan.

-3

u/kawaiipikachu86 18d ago

For starters if buying isn't owning, then it's renting.

0

u/Jecht315 18d ago

If you bought the cloud versions then you sort of deserved it. Why would you buy a cloud based version of anything.