Nintendo Is Dropping Google and Apple Sign-In. Check Your Account (and Your Own App)

On November 12, 2026, Nintendo published a short support notice that will quietly lock some people out in January.

From January 26, 2027, you won't be able to sign in to a Nintendo Account with Google or Apple, or create one that way. That's according to Nintendo's own support page, first covered by Engadget. An asterisk says the exact end time "may be delayed depending on the progress of the system change work". The My Nintendo Platinum Points mission for linking a Google account is ending too.

Nintendo hasn't said why. I won't guess on their behalf.

I've built login systems for 13+ years, mostly in PHP and Symfony, for my own startups and other people's. So I read this as a user with a Switch in the house and as someone who has shipped these buttons. Both of me have opinions.

The user side: you might not have a password at all

This is the part most people miss. If you created your Nintendo Account by tapping "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Apple", you may never have set a Nintendo password. The button was your only key.

After the cutoff, that key stops working. Nintendo says devices that are already signed in may not ask again. But the next time a sign-in page shows up, on a new console, after a reset, or on the eShop on your phone, you'll need something else.

The fix takes two minutes:

1. Go to your Nintendo Account page and sign in (the Google/Apple button still works for now).
2. Open Sign-In and Security Settings.
3. Set a password, or go to Passkeys → Edit → Register New Passkey. Nintendo recommends passkeys.
4. Never set a password? Use "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in page and set one from the reset email. If it doesn't arrive, Nintendo suggests adding [email protected] to your safe senders.

One trap Nintendo's page doesn't mention: Apple's Hide My Email. If you picked that option, your Nintendo account email isn't your real address. It's an Apple relay address that forwards to you. So don't go into your Apple settings and remove Nintendo from Sign in with Apple before your password works. If the forwarding stops, the reset emails stop with it. Several outlets flagged this too. If you've lost access to the registered email, Nintendo says to contact support.

Do it before January. Finding out you have no password mid-Mario Kart, with a child supervising, is a special kind of pressure.

The founder side: social login is a rented front door

I'm not anti social login. I've added it to products because it works: fewer abandoned sign-up forms, no "password must contain a hieroglyph" rage, and often better security than the reused password the user would have typed instead.

But every time I add it, I remind myself that this door is rented. Google or Apple own the lock. Their rules can change, your rules can change, or a partner like Nintendo decides to stop. Any user who only has that door is stuck outside.

I've been burned by smaller versions of this. Never a big lockout, but the slow drip of support emails from people who "can't log in" because the account was tied to an email they no longer use. It's always the most loyal, oldest users. That one stings.

What I'd do in any product with social login:

• Let users add a second method from day one. A password, a passkey or a magic-link email you control.
• Store a real, verified email you can reach. With Apple's relay addresses, know that you're holding a forwarding address, not a mailbox.
• Have a migration path before you need one. If you ever drop a provider, you'll need a way to reach every account that has no other way in. Build that table now, not during the announcement week.
• Nudge, don't nag. A one-time "add a backup sign-in" prompt after the third login is enough.

Nintendo is doing roughly that: two and a half months of notice, a clear reset path, and passkeys as the recommended replacement. That's a decent way to close a door. Most of us would do worse under pressure. I've shipped worse.

The other side

Some people will say the lesson is "never use social login". I don't buy that. For many users the Google or Apple button really is safer and easier than anything they'd set up themselves. The lesson is narrower: one key is never enough for an account you care about, whether you're the user or the one building the lock.

So here's my question: for your important accounts, do you use the Google/Apple button or your own password or passkey? And why?