Skip to main content

Nintendo says it will offer easier ways to add Switch friends in the future

Nintendo says it will offer easier ways to add Switch friends in the future

/

Social networks instead of Friend Codes

Share this story

There’s not much like a new console launch day for video game fans, but our excitement for Nintendo’s Switch was tempered very slightly with the news that Nintendo would still be using its cumbersome Friend Code system to connect players. Hours before the Switch hits store shelves, though, there is some good news — Nintendo says it’s going to provide other ways for users to add friends in the future.

In a statement given to Polygon, Nintendo said that it planned to allow Switch users to eventually be able to add friends through social networking services, as well as via Nintendo Network IDs — a cross-platform system similar to Microsoft’s Gamertags or Sony’s PSN names. You’ll also be able to add people you’ve recently played with to your friends list, as well as people who share the same wireless connection you do. Some titles will also let you add players through an in-game interface, though Nintendo isn’t clear about what this will entail.

There’s already some light at the end of the tunnel — Switch owners can currently add friends they’ve previously played with via Nintendo mobile games Miitomo and Super Mario Run. Hopefully that means we won’t have to deal with tiresome and outdated Friend Codes for long, but Nintendo has yet to confirm exactly when these new methods will become available, nor whether it’s finally going to kill the codes once and for all.


Nintendo Switch hardware review