Nintendo fans will soon have to start paying for the privilege of playing video games online with their friends. The video game company has finally revealed when online functionality, which has been free to access for all players since the launch of the Nintendo Switch last year, will become a paid-for extra for owners of the console. Switch Online will launch on September 18 2018 and cost £18 ($20) for an annual subscription, or £3.49 This marks the first time Nintendo has charged players to access online multiplayer features, which were available for free on the Wii and the Wii U. A free seven-day trial will be available to all Switch owners at launch. Nintendo fans will soon have to pay for the privilege of playing the online elements of their favourite games.

The transformation of BlackBerry from a bombed-out, loss-making smartphone maker to a new-look software firm appears to be working: the Canadian business has reported better-than-expected quarterly profits, boosting its shares by more than 12%. The company, which was famous for its tiny keyboard phones and in 2010 had more than a third of the US smartphone market, was almost driven to extinction by the iPhone. By 2016 it had less than 1% of the US market. Thousands of workers were laid off as losses mounted and the business eventually gave up making phone handsets and decided to reinvent itself as a software and services specialist selling to large corporations. In its profits update on Thursday the company said sales at its high-margin software unit had hit a record and the outlook for the rest of the year was robust, boosting investor confidence in its turnaround strategy.