So, I'm locked out of my Switch game right now because of a 'required update'

[mistersensation]

Mostly just wanted to vent, because I have an hour and a half bus ride ahead of me. I was going to use that time to play Dragon Quest XI, but when I try to open it it says something like 'necessary data needs to be downloaded' and my only options are to cancel or download. If the whole point of the switch is you can take it anywhere, how are required downloads like this a thing? Is this a common situation, or am I getting this because it downloaded like part of an update at home or something? Why can't I play the game I paid for ;(

 

[Akronis]

Can you hotspot your phone briefly to connect your switch to it to update?

 

[HotHamBoy]

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

 

[M. Wallace]

Enable LTE

 

[Pargon]

Are you sure it won't let you play the game? Usually you can still launch them without updating.

 

[-shadow-]

Nintendo requires the update to be present if it's ever been on the system, and depending on the update even before that. I get that it's a security thing, but it's really odd that there's no option to download the update later sometimes.

 

[Stalwart]

switch has drm?

 

[Darknight]

Are you sure it won't let you play the game? Usually you can still launch them without updating.

Click to shrink...

There's been a few instances where you have no choice. They're uncommon, but they do exist.

 

[iag]

Did you delete an update? If so, you can only boot the game with the said update.

Don't know whether doing a factory reset would work, but you would lose all your save files.

 

[mistersensation]

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

Click to shrink...

Hey, I really appreciate your tone, buddy! Updates are well and good, but the game was working just fine before this, so I don't see why they have to force you to download it when, you know, due to the whole portable nature of the system you're likely to be offline when you want to play it.

Are you sure it won't let you play the game? Usually you can still launch them without updating.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that's why I was wondering if this was maybe a special case since I've never had this happen before. There's a 'Start Software' option, but pressing that just takes me to a different window where the only options are download update or cancel.

 

[Skyebaron]

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

Click to shrink...

Truly a puckered asshole in comment form. I love it.

 

[Wonderrade]

I had this happen to me. I brought my switch to a group gathering so a bunch of kids could play ARMS, but when I tried it said it needed to update and I couldnt launch it without hte update. So I can confirm this does happen, its lame but its there

 

[808s & Villainy]

How does it know? It seems like the only way is you were connected to the internet once, saw there was a required update, declined, and then just didn't play that game again till now (unless I'm mistaken)

Edit: Missed the last sentence. Must be that it found an update, but for some reason you didn't download it before

 

[JohnnyMoses]

What's strange to me is... how does it know you need an update if you're not connected to the internet?

 

[K Samedi]

I never had that kind of message but it sucks that such cases do exist. I hope Nintendo makes it a strict policy that games can always be started without updates.

 

[RedMercury]

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

Click to shrink...

Why a snarky, sarcastic response to the guy? He was totally civil. He never even called them monsters.

 

[mistersensation]

Did you delete an update? If so, you can only boot the game with the said update.

Don't know whether doing a factory reset would work, but you would lose all your save files.

Click to shrink...

Didn't delete any updates or anything like that. And I can just wait, factory reset seems like a nuclear option considering I have like 50 hours logged in the game haha

How does it know? It seems like the only way is you were connected to the internet once, saw there was a required update, declined, and then just didn't play that game again till now (unless I'm mistaken)

Edit: Missed the last sentence. Must be that it found an update, but for some reason you didn't download it before

Click to shrink...

Yeah I dunno. I don't recall declining any updates but it's possible

 

[RedMercury]

What's strange to me is... how does it know you need an update if you're not connected to the internet?

Click to shrink...

 

[foxuzamaki]

Im pretty sure it lets you play your game and avoid the download, try cancelling it I guess

 

[808s & Villainy]

Yeah I dunno. I don't recall declining any updates but it's possible

Click to shrink...

That's the only way I can see this being the case...how else would it even know there was an update you didn't have?

 

[Soapbox Killer]

switch has drm?

Click to shrink...

I just bought a 2nd Switch yesterday since the 1st is the main system some of my kids play on. I download The Touryst (Fantastic game) and I get to playing but since I'm a work I didnt stay on the Wi-Fi I just downloaded the game and got off. I link this switch to the switch at home via my Nintendo ID and now I am required to go ONLINE to to start The Touryst so it can double check I'm not playing on the home switch first, even though I never Downloaded the game on the home switch.




Also The Touryst is a Fantastic Game!

 

[mistersensation]

Im pretty sure it lets you play your game and avoid the download, try cancelling it I guess

Click to shrink...

Cancelling just boots me back to the home menu :(

 

[Fanuilos]

That sucks. From what I've noticed the Switch is pretty good about downloading updates in the background/while it's in sleep mode for software you regularly use. If it's something that hasn't been played for a while (seems like it's several months) though it won't download updates for it until the next time you go to start it.

 

[mistersensation]

That's the only way I can see this being the case...how else would it even know there was an update you didn't have?

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's why I was wondering if it like downloaded half an update at home or something... the icon doesn't have the little update bar below it though so I doubt that's what happened

 

[Mocha]

Why can't you hotspot your phone?

 

[Siggy-P]

That shouldn't happen. None of my games force me to download anything unless I archived it and reinstalled. Does it really not give you the option to start the software anyway?

 

[808s & Villainy]

Why can't you hotspot your phone?

Click to shrink...

Not all phone services support it, like Sprint for instance (unless you pay more)

 

[Deleted member 1476]

Why a snarky, sarcastic response to the guy? He was totally civil. He never even called them monsters.

Click to shrink...

Must defend corporation from evil posters.

 

[El Pescado]

Didn't delete any updates or anything like that. And I can just wait, factory reset seems like a nuclear option considering I have like 50 hours logged in the game haha

Click to shrink...

That's weird. My first thought would be that you've played on a higher "version" of the game and that's what the Switch was looking for. Switch doesn't generally force updates, but if you've played on a higher "version" of a game then it refuses to boot on a lower version for security purposes.

I'm assuming you've been playing on a physical copy all along?

 

[HardRojo]

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

Click to shrink...

You probably thought you were being clever with this shit, you were not, let me tell ya.

OP, I had no idea that could happen in some instances, have you tried using your phone's data or is it a big update? Seems like that'd do the trick.

 

[wafflebrain]

If you think that sucks Xbox requires you to update games to launch them at all if there's one available, only way to bypass this is to go offline (before attempting to launch the app) which is sorta the opposite of your issue. Some may say "just enable auto updates" for when the system isn't in use but for those with data caps this isn't really viable, some of those updates are huge in size and if you have just a few of the regularly updated AAA titles like FH4, Gears, or Halo MCC installed the data adds up quick. I think for a console you should still have the option of launching a game even if there is an update available. PS4 allows you to download game updates while playing the old version and that's ideally the way it should work. A mandatory system update for security reasons makes sense though, but if you're already offline I don't really see the issue with still allowing someone to use their console.

 

[TheCrackedJack]

There was probably some communication between the game and Nintendo's servers when you were last on the internet that flagged the game as having an update available. And that's why it knows even if you are offline.

I've had this happen with a game or two and there is no way around it. it will lock you out until you update.

 

[mistersensation]

Why can't you hotspot your phone?

Click to shrink...

I tried, but apparently that's not in my mobile plan. I'm still on my parents' family plan which is pretty basic I think

 

[Deleted member 2254]

Yeah it's annoying when it happens. Luckily I have unlimited data on my phone so I can usually dance around the issue but not quite when I'm on a plane. If you're offline no game should force you to install an update you may not even want. I can kinda understand when you're online and a major security issue is found in a game, but in this case no excuse.

 

[mistersensation]

There was probably some communication between the game and Nintendo's servers when you were last on the internet that flagged the game as having an update available. And that's why it knows even if you are offline.

I've had this happen with a game or two and there is no way around it. it will lock you out until you update.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I figured it must have been something like that. I'm bummed that this situation can happen at all, but at least it sounds like it's pretty uncommon

 

[Mocha]

I tried, but apparently that's not in my mobile plan. I'm still on my parents' family plan which is pretty basic I think

Click to shrink...

Burn, maybe take the cartridge out and put it back in.

Or force turn off the switch.

 

[Siggy-P]

I ain't played Dragon Quest so does the game have online functionality? If so it might have flagged that the servers can only be connected to with an update and locked you out cus of that.

 

[mistersensation]

That's weird. My first thought would be that you've played on a higher "version" of the game and that's what the Switch was looking for. Switch doesn't generally force updates, but if you've played on a higher "version" of a game then it refuses to boot on a lower version for security purposes.

I'm assuming you've been playing on a physical copy all along?

Click to shrink...

Nope, digital version

 

[Zomba13]

Yeah I figured it must have been something like that. I'm bummed that this situation can happen at all, but at least it sounds like it's pretty uncommon

Click to shrink...

If you haven't already, try launching to the recovery mode (power on while holding both volumes? or one of them?) it'll go tot he recovery menu and delete any downloaded system update. Maybe that'll help!

Need to power off then power on, not from sleep mode.

Once you pop into the menu you can just cancel out/restart and it'll boot normally. Don't need to format or anything.

 

[scitek]

Can you hotspot your phone briefly to connect your switch to it to update?

Click to shrink...

It could be several gigs for some games :P

 

[Alvis]

There was probably some communication between the game and Nintendo's servers when you were last on the internet that flagged the game as having an update available. And that's why it knows even if you are offline.

I've had this happen with a game or two and there is no way around it. it will lock you out until you update.

Click to shrink...

This has happened to me a few times. Thankfully in Spain carriers are actually decent so being locked out of hotspot isnt a thing, I have a 25 GB plan for cheap and I can hotspot as many devices as I want because it's my fucking data plan and if I want to hotspot so many computers and consoles to my phone that my phone explodes I should be able to do so. But it's still incredibly stupid. I remember leaving in a boat to go visit my family and Dead Cells requiring an update. Once you get far enough from land data becomes super slow and unreliable until you reach the next island (you still have data mind you it's just painfully slow) so while the boat was getting further and further away from land I was like FUCKFUCKFUCK trying to turn on the hostpot as fast as possible lol. Managed to download the update in time. It made me nervous to see the download progress bar moving slower and slower the further away from land we were lol.

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss

truly, Nintendo are monsters for wanting to improve the user experience

Click to shrink...

 

[El Pescado]

Nope, digital version

Click to shrink...

That makes it even weirder. You're playing on an unhacked Switch and never deleted any of the game data? Did you start an update at first and cancel it out?

I wonder if your Switch was downloading the update in the background and you interrupted it when you left the house.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Not all phone services support it, like Sprint for instance (unless you pay more)

Click to shrink...

I tried, but apparently that's not in my mobile plan. I'm still on my parents' family plan which is pretty basic I think

Click to shrink...

I had no idea this was a thing.

 

[Pargon]

Yeah, that's why I was wondering if this was maybe a special case since I've never had this happen before. There's a 'Start Software' option, but pressing that just takes me to a different window where the only options are download update or cancel.

Click to shrink...

I'm sure that I've been able to play games with pending updates before, so maybe this is a special case for some reason.
I know that you can clear pending system updates, but I'm not sure about game updates.

1. Shut down the system.
2. Hold volume up, down, and power until the logo appears.
3. Release power and continue holding both volume buttons until maintenance mode appears.
4. Do not select anything here. Hold down the power button to shut down the system, then switch it on normally.

This will clear a pending system update, but I have no idea if it works for game updates.

I just bought a 2nd Switch yesterday since the 1st is the main system some of my kids play on. I download The Touryst (Fantastic game) and I get to playing but since I'm a work I didnt stay on the Wi-Fi I just downloaded the game and got off. I link this switch to the switch at home via my Nintendo ID and now I am required to go ONLINE to to start The Touryst so it can double check I'm not playing on the home switch first, even though I never Downloaded the game on the home switch.

Click to shrink...

You should set things up so that the portable system is the "primary" console and the home system is secondary.
That way you can always play your games portably without authentication, and the home system should always have an internet connection for it.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

Last time I ran into an issue like this (where I needed to use internet on a device other than my phone, but my phone plan didn't include a hotspot) I downloaded an app called PdaNet+, which allowed me to create a 'Wifi Direct Hotspot' that's really just my phone bridging its data connection with other devices (which bypasses the need for a legit hotspot). Maybe you could do that to grab the update real quick, although by this point you might not get much out of it, and I could see the setup process being kind of a pain for someone who isn't familiar with some of the features and terminology used by the app.

 

[Joedev]

When there is a pending update, the dialog should have the option to 'Start Software' and that will bypass the download and just start the game. Do you not have that?

 

[mistersensation]

I tried the

If you haven't already, try launching to the recovery mode (power on while holding both volumes? or one of them?) it'll go tot he recovery menu and delete any downloaded system update. Maybe that'll help!

Need to power off then power on, not from sleep mode.

Once you pop into the menu you can just cancel out/restart and it'll boot normally. Don't need to format or anything.

Click to shrink...

I tried the 'initialize console without deleting save data' option. It deleted my games instead, haha. I'll re-download them later.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I'm sure that I've been able to play games with pending updates before, so maybe this is a special case for some reason.
I know that you can clear pending system updates, but I'm not sure about game updates.

1. Shut down the system.
2. Hold volume up, down, and power until the logo appears.
3. Release power and continue holding both volume buttons until maintenance mode appears.
4. Do not select anything here. Hold down the power button to shut down the system, then switch it on normally.

This will clear a pending system update, but I have no idea if it works for game updates.


You should set things up so that the portable system is the "primary" console and the home system is secondary.
That way you can always play your games portably without authentication, and the home system should always have an internet connection for it.

Click to shrink...

You are the man!! Thank you so much, I didn't know this was possible.

 

[anaa]

This happened to me recently too. With fire emblem 3 houses, I hadn't played it in a few months. Had an 8 hour plane ride, and decided it would be a good chance to pick it back up. Fast forward to being on the plane and not being able to start the game with this exact message. I even own the physical cartridge too, so it was maddening that i wasn't able to play it.

+1 boo to the dismissive poster in this thread, you know who you are. This kind of stuff is annoying and only hurts legitimate paying customers.

 

[Pargon]

You are the man!! Thank you so much, I didn't know this was possible.

Click to shrink...

Oh, one thing which may be an issue though - all users on a primary system can access those games.
On a secondary system, only the account they were purchased with can access those games. That may prove to be an issue if the home system is a "family" console shared by multiple people.
The way Nintendo set this up is frustrating, to say the least.