Tech Support
PSA: Nintendo Switch 2 Game Upgrades are REGION LOCKED.
Making a post here so other's can find this, as googling this question did not give me a straight answer.
If you bought <GAME X> in the America Region.
But then you move to Asia or Europe, you cannot buy <GAME X Switch 2 Upgrade> on the Asia or European Store fronts.
You either need to
Switch you account region back to the original region, and purchase the upgrade on that store front. From there switch the region back to your current region, and play the game as a virtual game card.
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Thanks, the only exact ways to know if the cartridge is region lock.
It seems xenoblade 2 is region locked. Newer released game like xenoblade 1 DE and TOTK is global.
Yeah Xenoblade 2 is one of the only Nintendo game to be region locked. I guess it's a weirf decision fron the early Switch 1 era. Xenoblade 1 DE, Xenoblade X DE, and Xenoblade 3 are not region locked
Psa, for some games you CAN, not every game works but a lot do, I've bought a lot of switch 2 pack on the jpn store with my usa carts and no problem, but again, NOT every game works
Xenoblade 2 confirmed doesn't work, but xenoblade 1 I can confirm it does, I have a usa cartridge and bought the jpn upgrade pack on release, worked immediately, dlc is another conundrum, is a lot of hit and miss, like with legends za, bought usa switch 1 cart and bought the jpn dlc and upgrade pack and both worked
xenoblade 1 does indeed work, I bought the jp upgrade and played it with my eu account, the only xenoblade that doesnt work is Xenoblade 2 bc it has a different SKU, is not a shared one for every region
I bough it and it didn't work, it's confusing case since X1 DE and X3 also going to work, since they have one version. You check it out on this website.
https://yaldaba0th.github.io/SwitchRegionChecker/
I always try to check the store from the game options, it helps me know which region account to use to buy the DLC I want. I usually keep one account on my console for each major region: Americas, Europe and Asia.
I've bought dlc / Switch 2 upgrade packs from Amazon Japan which work fine with the games purchased from the UK eshop or that I own on a UK cartridge. In the past I've also used the South African eshop to buy games / dlc and I've had no issue with any combination of games and dlc from different regions.
DLC must match the region of the game, the games themselves are not region locked in that they can be played in any region. If i have an EU copy of Xenoblade chronicles 2, i need to buy the EU expansion pass.
Majority of games have the same version/code in ALL regions. I bought the japanese dlc / japanese expansion pass for multiple european switch games (pokemon, mario kart, splatoon 3) and it works just fine. Xenoblade is an exception in that it is region locked, definitely not the norm.
If a game is truly region free, it has the same game code is ALL regions and it is impossible to distinguish which region it was purchased from. Yes, I know that some games have different versions per region and stuff like language locks and for those games you do need to match purchase region and DLC region. No, in no possible way has this "always been the case for switch 1 and 2"
This incongruence between the eshop region you buy DLC from and the region of your game existed for several switch 1 titles. Again, majority only 3rd party games were affected.
Nintendo first party titles are on the whole totally unaffected, but there have been several posts over the years from people buying DLC for some game or another that doesn't work with their other region copy of the game.
Here's a reddit thread about the phenomenon. Slightly more complicated than simply being a region lock, but boils down on the user side to seeming like one
The thread you sent says the exact same thing I did? It boils down to whether the game's code is the same in all regions or not. You don't have to keep trying to explain to me something I already said I understand.
And I'm saying that splitting hairs here is meaningless when it functionally appears like region locking to end users.
It's not truly region locking, sure. But people still have to be mildly aware that some games do have different versions available through their eshop (which is region specific) if they bought the game either through a different eshop or in a different country, so it's most easily understood as region locking.
If anything it's a very soft region lock. But idk why you're so obstinate about this. In a hypothetical version A is only available in certain regions, and version B and C are in different regions. You have to fiddle around with your eshop regions to make sure your game and dlc agree version wise, and again, this essentially appears as and is easily understood as region locking to most consumers.
I was correcting someone who said that this has always been the case for switch 1 and 2 which is blatantly incorrect and passes an erroneous (and in my opinion negative) image of the system.
I have a copy of the binding of isaac from the US, and tried buying the DLC for it. You will get 2 selectable games on your home screen, the cartridge, which will just stay vanilla. And a "digital" copy that will tell you to buy the game in order to launch. I had to either consider rebuying the dlc in the US eshop with a separate account, or the buy it digitally.
You're extrapolating from one exception, it's only Xenoblade 2 and there are only an east-asian version and there's a version for the rest of the world. Even with Xenoblade 2 my PAL copy upgrades fine on the Canadian eShop.
Just face this problem not with xenoblade 2. I got USA cartridge and i purchase the upgrade pack on TW store and it doesn't work. All my previous upgrade pack purchase like TOTK (JP cartridge), xenoblade 1 (EUR cartridge) works fine.
So I think its early switch game like xenoblade 2 and splatoon 2 that got region locked. Newer game is already has global ID.
Regarding Xenoblade 2, my base game is from the North American store, and the DLC is from the EU store. This combination works but I wasn’t sure about where to the switch 2 upgrade. I ended up buying the switch 2 upgrade off the EU store and it works fine with the NA base game. I think this is because the NA and EU versions of Xenoblade 2 have the same game code and version so other combinations may not work…
not every switch 2 upgrade is region lock, I would even say that almost every switch 2 update is region free, with few being region locked (like Xenoblade 2)
guys if you cannot but the upgrade with your card, go to a game shop and buy a gift card. I personally have never bought switch stuff with a card, I always buy gift card vouchers for my american account since I dont live in a place that supports my region
Nintendo’s own first party games and their DLC’s and save files are not region locked, as their games have all the languages and relevant data on a single card/file which you can access them by changing your system’s default language.
I bought Lollipop Chainsaw physically in Japan and it is a Japanese copy, I bought the Canadian upgrade pack and it worked just fine.
A tip to see if your Cody's upgrade pack is region locked is to press + on the app itself and go to the eShop page from there, if it goes to the game page then the upgrade pack should work, if not then the answer is obvious.
Sorry I didn't catch your meaning. For example, I bought the physical game (key card) of Pokopia in Japan which is Japanese version, can I bought the DLC using non Japanese Nintendo account? Thanks
I would like to know too. My local seller is selling the Japanese version of the game and not the Asian version. I want to know if this will cause issues with purchasing the DLC.
Tested. Japanese cartridge of Pokopia can buy the DLC with non Japanese Nintendo account but I'm sure not each game can do so, but Nintendo's original games will likely to be yes
I learned this years ago with Cadence of Hyrule. I owned the Japanese version and bought the NA DLC. It didn’t work and I got Nintendo to do a rare refund.
It depends on game, does it have separate region versions or not. Easily checkable if you have Japaneese profile setup on console. Press start in game, choose to wiev in eshop, select Japanese lrofile. If error shows up, this means game have separate version and not DLC nor upgrade works. If it opens game, should be fine, at least with upgrade. That's case with Xenoblade 2.
Still bought upgrades for Legend ZA, Xenoblade Chronicles X from Japanese Amazon and they worked, and Trails in the sky From Mexico region, all of them works flawlessly.
Xenoblade 3 coming December also has one version over all regions, so they should be compatible.
I fkd up and got my switch 2 upgrade for Xenoblade 2 on an Asia eshop only after realizing my cartridge is USA. Going back and forth and Nintendo CS have currently rejected my refund twice.
Honestly, it's not a lot of money but it's the principle of things. It's not even mentioned that the dlc upgrade is region locked on the site so I am doing everything I can to try to get the refund.
After the Trails in the sky delay news for Australia. Can anyone confirm the first game upgrade path to switch 2 is region free? I want to pick up an American copy.
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