Switch 2 Exploit Lets You Watch YouTube on Nintendo's Handheld, But There's A Catch

An unexpected feature buried within free Nintendo Switch 2 game Super Animal Royale caught the Internet's attention this week. Specifically, some web pages viewable within the game and Nintendo Switch 2's system-level browser contain external links to YouTube, which allow access to the entire site on the Nintendo Switch 2. Since the Switch 2 has no official YouTube app (and the Switch 1's version is incompatible) or way to use the browser independently, this feature of Super Animal Royale is effectively an exploit, and recalls manners in which previous consoles have used browser or specific game-based exploits to be jailbroken or hacked in other ways.


Before you get too excited, it is important to know how limited the feature actually is. A Reddit user showcasing the exploit, user u/JampyL on the r/NintendoSwitch2 subreddit, does note that you'll be stuck with ads but are able to skip them with the Switch 2's video controls. Other users note that YouTube videos in the browser are limited to 360p playback, which would be less noticeable on other handhelds but does stick out on Switch 2's high-resolution 1080p display. And finally, it seems unlikely that this specific game with this specific exploit will enable greater system-level hacks like we've seen in the past, but it does point toward a potential future where a game like Cubic Ninja (used to hack the 3DS back in the day) or Twilight Princess (used to hack the Wii) could eventually land in the eShop.

At time of writing, the feature still seems to work, and has been working for at least a month without intervention by Nintendo or the Super Animal Royale developers. It does seem like that won't last forever, but Nintendo's lax moderation of the eShop could give this exploit an unexpectedly long life. More importantly, it also shows that when or if a future title does appear that could enable wider access to the Internet or a greater system-level hack, Nintendo's slow moderation speed could see such a title remain unpatched for a month or longer. Time will have to tell on this one, but we'll likely be waiting much longer for the Switch 2 to be jailbroken to the extent that PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch currently are.