Summary
Nintendo eShop will let players buy digital games, DLC and upgrade packs as gifts for other members of their Nintendo Account family group, according to a news post dated 9 November on Nintendo’s US site, which says the feature will be added to the eShop for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 systems “on Nov. 16.” Gifting is limited to the family group. Nintendo said anyone with a Nintendo Account can set up a group and add members, “up to 8 total,” and pointed to its support site for instructions. The post describes no route for sending a game to a player outside the group. The feature rests on a system update that is already out. Nintendo said it “will be available on systems supporting system version 23.5.0 or greater, releasing Nov. 9, 2026.” The update should download automatically on a console connected to the internet, and owners can check their menu version and start the update by hand from System Settings. How gifting works in the eShop The flow sits inside the store on the console: Nintendo’s instructions begin “Visit Nintendo eShop on your device and find the game you’d like to give as a gift.” From the product page, the buyer selects the “Give as a Gift” checkbox and proceeds to purchase. The next screens cover the recipient, chosen from the list of family group members, and which of that person’s linked systems the gift goes to. A gift wrap color and other options come before the purchase is completed. Delivery is immediate. “Please note that gifts are sent to your recipient immediately, so be sure you’re ready!” the post says. The gift arrives on the recipient’s HOME Menu and “can be selected, accepted, and played right away.” No scheduling option is described. Nintendo’s Japanese post adds that recipients do not need to enter payment details or a download code. The announcement lists three limits:
- “Some products may not be eligible for digital gifting”
- “Supervised accounts are not able to send digital gifts”
- “The number of digital gift purchases allowed in a given period is limited” Nintendo has not published the figure behind the third limit, nor a list of the products that fall outside the feature. Both consoles are covered, since the eShop runs on Switch and on Switch 2, the system behind Make Tech Easier’s coverage of Call of Duty: Warzone on Switch 2. Nintendo tied the timing to the shopping season, opening the post with “Just in time for the holidays” and describing the feature as “a great way to celebrate a special occasion with your kids.” The Japanese post gives birthdays and anniversaries as occasions, and finding software a parent wants a child to play. Two dates in Nintendo’s own pages The US news post gives 16 November. The company’s system update notes for version 23.5.0, released on 9 November 2026, give a date a day later. Those notes say the update “Added support for an upcoming feature to allow gifting of Nintendo eShop products to a Nintendo Account family group member,” and that “This gifting feature will be available after a Nintendo eShop update, scheduled for November 17, 2026.” Nintendo’s Japanese topics post, dated 10 November, also gives 17 November 2026 as the day the gifting feature becomes usable on systems running version 23.5.0 or later. It carries the same three caveats as the US post: some products are not eligible, child accounts cannot send gifts, and the number of gift purchases within a set period is capped. That leaves two dates from Nintendo itself: 16 November in the US announcement, and 17 November in the support notes and the Japanese post, after the eShop update those notes describe. PlayStation Store routes gifts through cards Sony’s store has no direct equivalent. The FAQ on the PlayStation gift cards page asks “Can I gift games on PlayStation?” and answers: “Yes – PlayStation Store gift cards are the go-to way of gifting digital games on PS5, PS5 Pro and PS4.” The cards are sold through online and high-street retailers, and the page’s shop button sends buyers to CashStar Inc. Senders can choose a printable PDF or a digital voucher emailed with a custom design and message. Recipients redeem a 12-digit code on a PS5 or PS4 console, in the PlayStation App or in a web browser, and can spend the credit on digital games, add-ons, virtual currency, digital pre-orders and PlayStation Plus memberships. Hardware, accessories and PlayStation Gear merchandise are excluded. With a card, the title is chosen by the recipient rather than the buyer. Push Square covered the Nintendo change under the headline “PS5 Now the Only Console without a Digital Game Gifting Option.” Liam Croft wrote that “This implementation is a bit more restrictive than what’s on Xbox and Steam, where you can gift digital games to anyone on your friends list,” and said the only current way to send a PS5 or PS4 game to a family member or friend is to buy PSN vouchers to redeem. The Steam route Push Square refers to is set out in Make Tech Easier’s guide to gifting a game on Steam.