Nintendo Switch Abandons Twitter, Following Xbox And PS5

Elon Musk continues to run X (formerly Twitter) in a variety of questionable ways, and surely one of the oddest is the decision to charge vast amounts of money for access to the site’s API. As such, major firms are dropping integration with the hellsite, the latest being Nintendo. From June 10, you will no longer be able to share screenshots and videos from your Switch to the app.

Time was, Twitter offered access to its API (Application Programming Interface—the mechanism and protocols by which two different pieces of software could communicate) to all who wanted to grab it, to encourage other apps to interact with the social media company’s systems. If you remember the days of downloading those Chrome extensions that would let your Twitter pop out of the taskbar (remember Echofon?), or found a fun site that analyzes the content of your feed, it would be using the API. But in Musk’s infinite wisdom, back in February 2023 the so-called X announced it would be charging for access.

This has led to large numbers of companies (and worse, research organizations) to abandon integration, not least because to do it at scale is phenomenally pricey. Microsoft was the first of the big three console owners to jump ship in April 2023, followed by Sony in November last year. With Nintendo’s announcement last night, that means, as of June, no major console will support sharing screenshots and videos with what we wish was still called Twitter.

Nintendo is most magnanimous in its announcement about the decision, in which it explains that from June 10 there will be no more sharing of images and footage, as well as a discontinuation of the option to send friend requests. This will also affect in-game sharing in games like Splatoon 3. The company notes that Facebook integration remains, with the caveat that it may be “discontinued at a later date.” However, Nintendo gives no reason for the decision in their article.

Xformerlytwitter has responded in the most embarrassing fashion, its one million-follower @xGaming account simpering about how important and relevant it remains, and how X and Nintendo are still best-best friends and they’ll probably be getting milkshakes together later.

It’s the most peculiar phrasing: We are dedicated to enhancing and supporting gaming-related features, so here’s one that’s being switched off. Um.

A community note prominently offers the missing context, and points out that this follows Xbox and PlayStation already having done the same.

If you—like far too many Kotaku writers—were using Twitter as your means to get screenshots off your Switch and onto other devices, it’s worth knowing you can just connect your Switch to your PC via USB, open it as a hard drive, and drag and drop them across.

As “X” becomes a safe home to literal Nazis, it’s seen a 15 percent worldwide drop in users since Musk was forced to buy the company a year ago as a punishment for his own hubris. With major corporations refusing to cough up the ludicrous $42,000 a month fee for the “Enterprise” tier of API access, the site will continue to become less relevant, until it’s left with only the people who deserve it.

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