The Switch will soon lose social media sharing to X, likely due to increased costs associated with the feature.
Nintendo announced Thursday that a future update for the Switch would remove the ability to post screenshots to the social network formerly known as Twitter.
Ever since the Nintendo Switch first launched back in 2017 the hybrid console has had the ability to share media directly to the social network (now called X), however — after some seven years of the neat feature being in place, it's now set to be removed in June, likely due to the significant cost that's now associated with API access.
When professional internet attention seeker Musk bought Twitter back in October of 2022 a range of sweeping, questionable changes to the long-standing social network were introduced — including charging users for a blue tick 'verification' badge, and the baffling name change to X in the summer of last year.
One such change that Musk put in place was striking changes to the cost of API access (costs reportedly now start at around $40,000 per month) — the API allowed third-parties, such as Nintendo, access to Twitter — and Nintendo used it to allow the Switch to post screenshots, shared video clips, and even facilitate friend requests.
It was a neat way to quickly share neat gaming moments to your social following.
Nintendo confirmed (on X of all places) that all of that will now be removed on June 10.
For those who still use it, it is a shame to see the feature being gutted — but with engagement on X dwindling (🦋 I'm mostly on Bluesky now by the way), it's not surprising to see Nintendo now follow suit and remove this particular social feature from their console — Sony have already done the same on PlayStation, as have Microsoft on Xbox.
Here's a customer support document from Nintendo outlining further information about the upcoming removal of support for X.