Tuesday, November 19, 2024

All three game console makers have now abandoned X integration

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As of June 10th, Nintendo has officially discontinued support for the Switch console’s integration with X (formerly Twitter), making it the last of the current-gen consoles to do so after Microsoft and Sony disabled their own access last year. 

The integration was removed as part of the Nintendo Switch’s 18.1.0 update, taking away the ability for users to link their X account with the console, or post in-game screenshots from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate directly to the social media platform. The removal of these features comprised the majority of the 18.1.0 update, which also includes some general stability improvements and ditches support for linking social media accounts via the Switch’s Friend Suggestions feature.

Nintendo announced these changes last month but didn’t explicitly state the reason for pulling support for X. Given Switch users can still share their content to Facebook, it likely has something to do with pricing changes to the X API which now starts at $42,000 a month for enterprise customers.

Microsoft didn’t mention X’s API update when it removed the ability for Xbox consoles to share game uploads to the service last April, nor did Sony when it followed suit in November for the PS5 and PS4. Cost may not be the only factor as Slack said it had also pulled support because the API updates impacted the functionality of its own X integration, but regardless of the reason, console gamers will now have a hard time connecting directly with the platform. 

That’s despite the X Gaming account saying in a now-deleted post that its “partnership with Nintendo remains strong” after Nintendo announced its plans to kill Switch support.

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