Due to a new Nintendo Switch update, X (formerly Twitter) integration is officially gone from all three major gaming consoles.
The Switch update, version 18.1.0, was relatively small, with a major focus on removing X integration. For that, Nintendo made severalchanges. First, it removed the “Post to Twitter” option from the albums you can access from the Home menu. Second, it removed the setting to link an X account to the Switch in User Settings.
There have also been changes made to some first-party titles. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players will also no longer be able to post screenshots from the Home menu album to Smash World, the game’s social hub. Splatoon 3 users also won’t be able to post to X or Facebook from the mailbox in Splatsville (same goes for Splatoon 2 players), Inkopolis Plaza, or Inkopolis Square.
Similarly, Nintendo removed the ability to send friend requests to social media friend suggestions while using your Switch.
While the Switch still has Facebook functionality, Nintendo warns that this could also disappear at a later date. For now, if you want to post your Nintendo captures to X, you’ll have to go to the album in the Home menu and send images or clips to your smartphone, connect the console to a PC using a cable, or transfer items to a microSD card.
Nintendo announced the move last month, which prompted the X Gaming account to respond. “The gaming community is one of the largest and most vibrant communities on our platform, and we are dedicated to enhancing and supporting gaming-related features,” the post read, adding that it was continuing its partnership with Nintendo and would support the transition.
The gaming community is one of the largest and most vibrant communities on our platform, and we are dedicated to enhancing and supporting gaming-related features. As part of Nintendo's planned discontinuation of sharing content to X from the Nintendo Switch, from June 11th, users… https://t.co/mvT7aIsSOn
— Gaming (@xGaming) May 10, 2024
Nintendo is just the latest major console maker to disable X functionality. PlayStation announced it was going away on the PlayStation 5 and 4 in November, and Xbox removed it in April 2023. While these companies didn’t offer any explanations, it likely has to do with X’s new API pricing for enterprise customers, which starts at $42,000 per month. Xbox just posted that it “had to disable the ability to share game uploads directly to Twitter.”
The easiest way to share game captures on PlayStation and Xbox is the same as it is on Switch: Use their official apps to access clips and images on your smartphone.
