Cloud saves will not be available for all games on the Nintendo Switch. Switch cloud saves are an upcoming feature that will go live when the online services for Switch launch. Major upcoming titles like Dark Souls Remastered, Pokemon Let’s Go, NBA 2K19 and FIFA 19 will not support the requested feature.
There is a small disclaimer on the Nintendo website pages for these titles that reads that says that it “does not support Save Data Cloud backup.” Several released titles such as Splatoon 2 and Dead Cells also feature the same disclaimer. Interestingly, the eShop pages each title does not have any information about Switch cloud saves. Only these seven titles have that warning, meaning that the majority of titles will support Switch cloud saves.
Nintendo has been hounded by questions about Switch cloud saves since the launch of the hybrid console in March 2017. Until the launch of Nintendo Switch Online later this month, players have had no way to back up saves in the event that their console is lost, damaged, or stolen. Switch Online annual subscriptions will cost $20 per year and cloud saves are only available as a part of that annual fee.
As of now there has been no official word from Nintendo about the variability of cloud saves on the system. None of the affected games’ developers have spoken on the lack of cloud saves for the system either. Cross-platform titles like Dark Souls Remastered feature cloud saves on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Other titles, like Nintendo’s own Splatoon 2 have heavy online components and may store player saves in a unique way.
It’s unlikely there’s one reason for these titles to not support Switch cloud saves, and we’ll have to wait for more information from Nintendo. The recently delayed Nintendo Direct might have held more information about cloud saves for the system, but that Direct has yet to be rescheduled.
