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My sister and I have shared a Switch console, we both have our own user and respective Nintendo accounts linked to them.

We currently have 3 main titles that were digital purchases, 2 she purchased using her account and one I purchased using mine. She wants to buy a Switch of her own but we are not sure what will happen to these digital purchases.

Will these 2 games become unplayable in the current switch?
Will she be able to just download them and resume playing once she transfers her profile?
Will all her game data for our physical games be transferred to the new console too?

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According to image from account transfer dialog and Nintendo support article, games purchased on one account are tied to it, and will be playable only on console, which has this account. Transfer dialog

So

  • She will be able to re-download games on her new Switch;
  • All save data attached to her account will be transferred;
  • Games will be indeed unplayable on current Switch*;

*It would be still possible to play on current Switch by using same account, which is possible if one console is primary and another is not, but there is the whole set of caveats in this case.

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  • Will save game data only be downloaded if the user account has Nintendo Online subscription for the cloud saves? Or would it need to be transferred between consoles?
    – Neon1024
    Dec 2, 2019 at 9:33
  • According to article in my answer, save data will be transferred as part of account migration.
    – lentinant
    Dec 2, 2019 at 13:44
  • I seriously doubt the save data will be transferred without a Nintendo Online cloud save. Without one, if you lose your switch you're SoL regarding your saves, for example. Maybe with account transfers it works differently, but with nintendo you never know
    – ricardo silva
    Dec 2, 2019 at 17:10
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    @ricardosilva rather than using cloud to transfer save data, this approach transfers data directly to target system. According to this this article, transferring save data without involving cloud backup doesn't require subscription. Additionally, option I've described in answer explicitly mentions "save data", and doesn't require subscription to be used. If you want to disproof my solution, please provide references to solid evidences.
    – lentinant
    Dec 5, 2019 at 11:54

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