Nintendo plans to bring Switch Sports back online and compensate players for downtime

Nintendo has detailed plans to bring Switch Sports back online this week, and to compensate players for the game’s recent downtime.

The company temporarily disabled online play and save data backups for Nintendo Switch Sports last Friday while it investigated a solution to a bug.

The bug in question, which was found in the game’s Ver1.2.1 update, caused the game to close during pre-match loading screens.

In an update on its Japanese site on Monday, Nintendo said it plans to restore online functionality across two updates this week.

Update Ver. 1.2.2, which will be released on October 18, should restore online play.

Save data backups will then be restored with update Ver.1.2.3, which is currently planned for release on October 20, although Nintendo said this date is still to be confirmed.

The company said it’s possible players will need to download both updates before they’re able to play the game online again.

Nintendo also plans to compensate players for the downtime. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers who have previously played Switch Sports will have their membership period extended by one week.

And from October 18 until November 3, players will receive double the normal number of in-game points rewarded for playing online.

In the future, Nintendo also plans to make it possible for players to obtain the weekly items they may have missed out on while the game was offline.

Switch Sports’ free summer update launched in July, introducing several new features including leg strap functionality for football matches and new volleyball moves.

A second free Switch Sports update, which was originally scheduled to add golf to the list of playable sports this autumn, was recently delayed to the holiday season.