For Switch 2, Friend Codes aren't going anywhere, but you'll at least be able to add friends in a brand new way. If you have the Nintendo Switch mobile app, anyway.
Vice President of Player and Product Experience Bill Trinen spoke to Polygon last week and revealed that you'll now be able to add friends by scanning QR codes via the Nintendo Switch app. Still not quite the revolution we were after, but hey, it's an improvement?
This new addition comes as a result of GameChat, the new voice and video chat integrated into the Switch 2 (if you have an NSO membership, anyway). Trinen tells Polygon that improvements to the online friend experience were important because of this feature, which aims to "replicates that face-to-face experience you get in the same room."
We're not totally surprised Friend Codes are sticking around, we would've loved to be able to add friends by simply searching for them via username or something else. And not everyone uses the Nintendo Switch app, so it's perhaps not the most intuitive addition.
Nintendo probably hopes more people will adopt the app — particularly with the addition of Zelda Notes for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom's Nintendo Switch 2 editions — when the Switch 2 launches on 5th June 2025. And look, the Piranha Plant camera might make us fold.
Will you be using QR codes to add friends on Switch 2? Let us know down below.
