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: The Cause: My Switch was not my 'Primary Console' My son had the same results when attempting to play using his profile. 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. 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. 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 purchased Animal Crossing: New Horizons on my Switch.

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. 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.Īfter 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.

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