UPDATE: Unfortunately it looks like this information is incorrect – we, and many others, inferred from the cloud icon that Nintendo was accessing a cloud-based save system, but it turns out the company is using that icon for simple downloads of game data. Nintendo most likely transferred the data during repairs, which still gives hope to those who may damage the system in the future.
We’re sorry for any inconvenience.
When Reddit user Patsuann ran into issues with his Switch and had to send it in for repair, he was disappointed to find that his saved data had been removed. Interestingly, when launching The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the first time, a prompt saying that necessary data could not be found and must be downloaded appeared, followed by a small cloud icon popping up. When the download was complete, the original save data for the game was returned to the console.
Nintendo has yet to make any formal announcement regarding cloud saves, and this is the first time that we’ve seen it in action. This may be a very promising sign that the functionality could be coming to the masses in the future.