Sunday, March 29, 2020

SOLUTION: "This user cannot play this software" when launching Animal Crossing: New Horizons


My family was excited about the Couch Co-op Multiplayer feature of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but once the game finally downloaded we faced a couple days of frustration and disappointment due to the console announcing "This user cannot play this software" any time one of my kids attempted to play the game.

After a lot of web searching and poking through forum threads we're finally able to play this game as a family, and I wanted to describe how I fixed it in case other people out there experience the same problem.

We own two Switch consoles. The first one we got is the Nintendo Switch with Gray Joy-Cons, which belongs to the kids, and the second one is the Nintendo Switch with Neon Blue and Neon Red Joy-Cons, which belongs to me.

I purchased Animal Crossing: New Horizons on my Switch. After a very painful download process (it took three re-tries and some Internet settings tweaks before the game finally downloaded), I was able to play the game just fine. I reached the point where my character became the "resident representative," which is an apparent requirement before other users are able to visit your one-and-only island. However, after I quit my game and handed the console to my daughter, when she launched the game and selected her user profile, the switch said "This user cannot play this software," and that she would need to purchase a copy at the Nintendo e-Shop. My son had the same results when attempting to play using his profile.

The Cause: My Switch was not my "Primary Console"

Here are some quick details about our setup, so you can compare against your own situation to see if the solution that worked for me will work for you:

  • My copy of New Horizons was a digital purchase (not a cartridge).
  • My user profile on that console (the one with red and blue Joy-Cons) is a linked account, with full e-Shop privileges. My kids' profiles on that console are not linked; they're just local accounts.
  • Although this was "my" Switch, it was not the first Switch I had created a linked profile on. When we first bought the other Switch for the kids, I created a profile on that device and linked it to my Nintendo account so I could purchase games for them to play on it. This is important: Since I had already created a linked profile on my kids' Switch, as far as Nintendo was concerned, their Switch was my "Primary Console."
So here's what was happening: Even though I was the user who purchased New Horizons, since my Switch was not registered as my primary console, I was the only user allowed to play e-Shop-purchased games on that device. If I had downloaded New Horizons onto my kids' Switch instead, we would all have been able to play the game.

The Solution: Registering my Switch as the Primary Console

In order to make it so we could all play the game on my console I had to de-register my kids' Switch from my Nintendo account, and then register my own Switch as the primary. Here's how I did that:
  1. On a web browser I logged into my Nintendo Account.
  2. Once logged into the main Nintendo Account page, I clicked the Shop Menu link.
  3. On the Shop Menu page, I scrolled down and then clicked Deregister Primary Console.
  4. Next, I got onto my Switch, and under my own user profile, I opened the Nintendo eShop app. Nothing obvious happened; I didn't get any message saying, "This device is now your primary console" or anything. But apparently this was enough, because according to Nintendo, after de-registering from one Switch console, simply launching the eShop on another Switch where you have a linked profile will automatically register that device as the new primary.
As I write this my son's Animal Crossing character is running around and pulling up weeds on my island. I do hope this helps others running into the same issue. It would be nice if the Switch's error messages were more clear about what the real problem was.

Update: I forgot to add when initially writing this that if your Switch frequently says, "Checking if software can be played" when you launch a title, that's an indication that you are not using your registered primary console. I used to see this all the time when launching my digital downloads, but did not realize it was a hint that something was wrong. Now that my personal Switch is my primary device, my downloaded titles launch instantly.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

This somewhat helped me, but the problem I was trying to figure out is if you could have a different nintendo account play on another game they didnt own

Unknown said...

Glad I checked back in.

Unknown said...

That was in - thanks so much!!

Unknown said...

Greatly helpful!! For my siblings to play. This was the issue, thanks for writing on it.

Jinfrog said...

Thank you so much I've been struggling with this for days and finally found your article!

iUniqueGeek said...

Omgee thank you so much! Solved my problem that I was racking my brain on!

Maimai said...

Does anything happen to the game on your previous primary switch? Can it be used same as usual?

Ultimate Outsider said...

@Maimai - Your game on the other switch should be fine, however only your user profile will be able to play the game on that non-primary device.

Mags said...

Thank you so much!! What a pain that was for such a simple solution. Appreciate it!!

Unknown said...

This helped, finally a solid answer.

Unknown said...

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Thank you!!!! By the way, you can check which console is your primary by viewing your account details in the eShop.

To view this, open the Nintendo eShop on your console and select which account you want to view. On the top right of the screen, click on your profile to view your account details. Scroll through the screen until you come across the "Primary Console" option, and this will tell you if the console you are on is the primary or not.

island dweller said...

Thank you, so helpful!!

Saraiyah said...

Thank you so much for this guide! I was having this issue with my Switch Lite and ACNH edition Switch!

Gina said...

I have a similar problem. My issue is both switches have purchased digital copies of AC so we have two islands. If I make my switch the primary (currently my son's is primary) does that mean the kids cannot play their users on the their switch? I'm wondering if I just need to buy a new nintendo online account instead of our family one to be able to add another user to my island?

Life is a crazy adventure! said...

Am having this come up on a game we actually purchased that was a cartilage and still can't get it to work silly u spend money on something that doesn't work

Moirai said...

Oh thank you!!! Finally a straight forward answer!!!

Leena said...

Thank you!

Lady Croff said...

Thank you so much for this post. This is exactly what I have happening with my new Switch! You just saved me so much time and frustration. THANK YOU, THANK YOU

Sorbet22 said...

Thanks so much, this was a huge help!

Ainesk said...

Thank you so much for this!! Your solution and steps worked perfectly for me. I was about to give up since the Nintendo website was no help to figuring out this issue. I so appreciate you putting this together. I'm so excited to be able to play now!

M Shorten said...

Thank you. I just tried to ge my kids to play ACNH (downloaded version) on my switch lite and wasn’t able to. So I went through your steps and it worked!!!

So now, my kids tried to play on mine and it looks like they are going to start, from scratch, on my switch (and on my island as it looks like they will be moving). They already have a very developed island on their own switch / primary console. So I closed out before we messed up their accounts!! So, my question is, if they start playing on my console, will they lose all that they did on their switch (they have a ACNH game cartridge)?

nj said...

Thank you for sharing this - perfect.

Unknown said...

My kid originally was on my island on her account and I bought another switch where she made her own island. I had to buy a cartridge game since she couldn't play the downloaded as the same time as me. She ended up with a character still on my island and her new character on hers. She couldn't be on the two characters at the same time, like trade her own items or visit herself, but other than that it didn't change our islands. I still ended up deleting her character as I wanted the room her house was taking up.

Unknown said...

Don't let them move to your island or they will loose their progress. But they can have alt characters. My kid was on my island first. I had the option to move her or delete her (move away and not be remembered)

Tom&Sara said...

Thank you so much!! I was able to follow your instructions easily and solved this issue! Appreciate you 💕