On May 8, Nintendo confirmed via X (formerly Twitter) that, as of June 10, the Switch will no longer be able to share screenshots from the console directly to X. This change will further complicate the process of sharing pictures of games.
The Gaming Division of X quickly responded to this change, stating their relationship with Nintendo was stronger than ever and that they were actively working with this company. They also confirmed that to upload gameplay from the Nintendo Switch, users will have to first upload the files on their smartphones in order to later post the content natively to X. This change will go into effect on June 11.
According to several reports, Nintendo made this decision thanks to some changes in the cost of the API that X uses for integration with these kinds of platforms. These reports suggest the company needs to pay up to $40,000 every month to keep this feature available for users. The community also shared numerous articles talking about how this already happened with Xbox and PlayStation, noting X owner Elon Musk is looking to generate more income from this kind of feature. All of these companies declined to pay up with the new pricing structure and simply removed the feature from their console OS.
This API from X allows third-party companies to integrate the social media site into their hardware or software to upload directly to X. The Musk company reportedly charges larger companies between $42,000 and $210,000 per month to use this API.
All other platforms besides Nintendo have their own apps where users can upload their screenshots and videos automatically. On the Nintendo Switch, the only way to do this is via a QR code, which only leaves the user with four screenshots at the same time, or by posting the picture via Facebook and then downloading it to be posted on another platform, which is not intuitive at all.
Nintendo needs to create a new way for players to share their pictures and videos without using an external flash drive to download all the content for later posting from a computer. This is the only platform that still doesn’t have a proper smartphone app to upload content.
