PlayStation Ends Twitter Sharing Feature, Following Industry Trend
Sony is set to discontinue the Twitter sharing functionality on its PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles from next Monday, 13th November, aligning with actions taken by Xbox and Blizzard earlier in the year.
Twitter sharing has been an integral feature of the PlayStation experience, allowing gamers to seamlessly post gameplay moments, trophy acquisitions, and more directly to the social platform. This convenience will cease as Sony prepares to retire the service next week.
Detailed on Sony’s official support site, the company stated, "Starting November 13, 2023, Twitter functionality will be deactivated on both PS5 and PS4 systems. This will affect all forms of content sharing to Twitter, including gameplay, trophies, and other activities, as well as the ability to link Twitter accounts for these purposes." (Twitter is now formally rebranded as X.)
Sony has guided users towards other sharing methods, notably highlighting the PlayStation App, which enables the transfer of media to personal devices or sharing with friends and parties, offering an alternative to the outgoing Twitter support.
The decision to remove Twitter integration from PlayStation devices is not accompanied by an official explanation from Sony, yet it is presumably a consequence of Twitter's new policy to charge for API access, which may incur costs up to 42,000 USD monthly for corporations.
This move by Sony is in line with Microsoft's April update that disabled capture sharing to Twitter from Xbox consoles and PCs. Additionally, Blizzard had already excised Twitter support from World of Warcraft following the API's monetization announcement. This collective pivot reflects a broader industry shift as companies reassess the value and cost of social media integrations.
Source: PlayStation