Report / Published 2026-11-02

Nintendo adds four waves of Pikmin icons for Switch Online members

Nintendo Switch Online members can now redeem Pikmin profile icons, with four weekly waves running until 28 November 2026 according to GoNintendo. Character icons cost 10 Platinum Points and borders or backgrounds cost 5 each, and Nintendo Everything reports that redeemed icons stay on the account after a subscription ends.

(See the reader poll and source context below).

Nintendo has started four weekly waves of Pikmin profile icons for Switch Online members, at 10 Platinum Points per character and running to 28 November.

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Pikmin icons now available for Switch Online membersReported context: [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object]Not recordedNot recorded
Nintendo Switch Online adds Pikmin iconsReported context: [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object]Not recordedNot recorded

THE SHORT VERSION

  • Nintendo Switch Online members can now redeem Pikmin profile icons, with four weekly waves running until 28 November 2026 according to GoNintendo.
  • Character icons cost 10 Platinum Points and borders or backgrounds cost 5 each, and Nintendo Everything reports that redeemed icons stay on the account after a subscription ends.
  • The icons launched alongside a ten minute Pikmin Day Direct, which GoNintendo says contained no new game announcements.

Pikmin joins the Switch Online icon set

Nintendo Switch Online members can now redeem Pikmin profile icons, with the first wave live and more to follow. GoNintendo reports that another series of user icons has started exclusively for subscribers, and Nintendo Everything describes characters, backgrounds and frames as all available. Both outlets tie the start to the Pikmin Day festivities rather than to a standalone promotion.

The icons can be redeemed on both Switch 2 and the original Switch, according to Nintendo Everything. That line matters more than it looks, because it tells a reader who owns both consoles that the set is not reserved for the newer hardware. Neither report describes how the icons are displayed once redeemed, and neither publishes a full list of the characters included. The difference between a themed drop and a product line is worth keeping in view, because Nintendo has attached these icons to an event rather than to a game release.

Four waves, ending on 28 November

GoNintendo reports that four waves will arrive over the next four weeks, with a refresh each week, and that the first wave began with the announcement. It also gives the end point: the final wave will finish on 28 November 2026. Nintendo Everything carries the same end date and adds the regional timing, with new icons appearing every Saturday in North America and every Sunday in Europe. That split decides whether a member sees the refresh on Saturday morning or waits an extra day.

The two accounts describe the cadence slightly differently, and the difference is worth holding onto. GoNintendo frames the rollout as four waves across four weeks. Nintendo Everything frames it as a weekly release in which all Pikmin designs disappear on 28 November. Neither says how many characters each wave contains, so a reader cannot yet work out how large the full set will be.

What the icons cost

Pricing is consistent across both reports. A character icon costs 10 Platinum Points, the currency earned through My Nintendo activities, and borders and backgrounds cost 5 points each. A member who wants a character with a frame and a background is therefore spending 20 points per design, assuming the three parts are bought separately. That arithmetic is the only way the reports let a reader budget, since neither mentions a bundle.

Neither outlet says how many points a typical member has banked, and neither lists which activities currently award them. What both make clear is that the icons are a points purchase rather than a cash one, and that no part of the set is sold for money. That keeps the promotion inside the subscription rather than alongside it. GoNintendo calls this another series of user icons and writes that the pricing is as per usual, which implies the format is established.

The icons stay after the subscription ends

Nintendo Everything adds a detail that changes the value of the offer: once a member redeems points for an icon, it stays on the account permanently, even if the subscription lapses. The site states it as a reminder, which suggests the term is not new. For a reader weighing whether to spend points now, that is the most consequential sentence in either report.

GoNintendo does not mention what happens after redemption, so the permanence claim rests on one outlet. It is also the detail most likely to matter to a lapsed member who returns later, because the redeemed icons would still be owned while the unredeemed designs would no longer be on offer. The set is retired on 28 November 2026, according to both reports, and nothing in either says whether it will come back. A reader who wants a specific design therefore has a reason to check early rather than late in the window.

The Direct that came with it

The icons arrived on the same day as a Pikmin Day Direct. GoNintendo describes the presentation as shadowdropped, ten minutes long, and covering various Pikmin titles including the upcoming Pikmin 4 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy. It adds, in plain terms, that the Direct contained no new game announcements.

Nintendo Everything confirms that the Direct was released earlier in the day and points readers to it. The caveat is the important part. A ten minute show about an existing game and its Switch 2 edition sets expectations differently from a showcase, and the absence of announcements is stated in one of the two reports rather than left for viewers to discover.

The date that matters

The remaining schedule is simple. Three waves are still to come, one per week, with the refresh landing at the weekend depending on region. The set closes on 28 November 2026, and points spent after that date will not buy a Pikmin icon because the designs will no longer be offered. A reader who wants a particular design should check before that date rather than after it.

For the surrounding coverage, this site has reported on the Pikmin Day Direct, the Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition release and the animated shorts. What neither source here says is whether Nintendo will repeat the format for another series, or whether four waves is now the standard shape for these sets. On the evidence available, the only fixed point is 28 November.

Sources & reporting limits

  1. Pikmin icons now available for Switch Online members
  2. Nintendo Switch Online adds Pikmin icons
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