Nintendo will stop letting players sign in to their Nintendo Accounts with a Google or Apple account on January 26, 2027, according to a new notice on its support site.
After that date, a Google or Apple login will no longer open a Nintendo Account, and nobody will be able to create a fresh Nintendo Account through either service. Nintendo also says the date could slip, adding that the exact end time “may be delayed depending on the progress of the system change work.”
Who is affected
The change hits anyone who tapped “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Apple” when setting up their account and never created a separate password. That covers Nintendo Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED and Switch 2 owners, since all four use the same Nintendo Account for the eShop, saves and Nintendo Switch Online.
Children are not part of this. Nintendo’s own linking guide says a child’s Nintendo Account cannot be linked to a Google or Apple account in the first place.
One small reward also disappears. Nintendo says the My Nintendo Platinum Points mission for linking a Google account to a Nintendo Account is being discontinued too.
How to get ready, step by step
From November 12, there are 75 days until the cutoff. The fix takes a few minutes:
- Open the Nintendo Account login page and choose “Forgot your password?” to send yourself a reset email, even if you never set a password.
- If the email does not arrive, add no-reply@accounts.nintendo.com to your contacts and safe-sender list, then try again.
- Once you have a password, consider registering a passkey, which lets you log in with your phone’s fingerprint or face scan instead.
- If you can no longer reach the email address on the account, contact Nintendo before January 26 to change it.
Nintendo adds that consoles already signed in may keep working without a new login. If the sign-in screen does appear later, you will need your Nintendo Account email or Sign-In ID with a password, or a passkey.
Second time in five years
Nintendo has done this before. On October 25, 2022, it removed Facebook and Twitter as sign-in options, and at the time its support page told those users they could still sign in with Google or Apple. Those two were the fallback; now they are going as well, leaving Nintendo’s own email-and-password login and passkeys as the only routes in. In 2024, Nintendo also ended Switch friend suggestions from Facebook and Twitter contacts and the ability to post captures to Twitter from the console.
The timing lands in the busiest stretch of the Switch 2’s life so far. Players are deep into the console’s new Zelda release, chasing things like the 100 Gold Skulltulas in Ocarina of Time on Switch 2, and other platforms are reworking how players log in and connect too, as with Xbox Cloud Gaming letting phones act as controllers on smart TVs.
Nintendo did not give a reason for the change in its notice. The Google and Apple sign-in buttons are scheduled to stop working on Tuesday, January 26, 2027.
Illustrative image. Image: Evan-Amos, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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