Kyle Sankowicz
Assigned
Reported
Comments
Split Screen BROKEN in Realms - MCBE 1.21.60 (Switch)
Issue Description
After my realm updated to 1.21.60.10, when the second player in the Switch tries to join for split screen gameplay, the load aborts after a couple seconds. If I download the backup from Realms and play it on locally, split screen works correctly.
See issue demo video here. (Reddit post)
User Impact
Minecraft split screen has been at the center of some great quality bonding time with my 7-year-old.
I pay for Realms so I can log in to my daughter's world without her and help out with supply farming/gathering. Because of this bug, I've just downloaded the world and I'll just log her in idle and do split screen by myself.
So now, what am I even paying for Realms for? Probably will just cancel the subscription unless/until this is fixed.
I just sent a report request. Here’s what I sent.
Hi, I’d like to provide a clear, detailed explanation of the split-screen Realms bug tracked under MCPE-222048, because what many of us are experiencing on Nintendo Switch and PS5 is not the intended “guest account (1)” behavior described in the moderator comments.
This issue is not about simple progress loss or corrupted saves.
It is specifically about multi-account split-screen players no longer loading their real Microsoft-account player data when joining a Realm from the same console… even though this used to work perfectly before a recent update and still works correctly on Xbox today.
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Summary of the Actual Bug
When two signed-in players join a Realm via split-screen on Switch (and PS5):
What should happen (and used to happen):
• Player One selects their console profile, which is linked to their Microsoft account.
• Player Two selects their own console profile, also linked to their own Microsoft account.
• Both players join the Realm under their correct Microsoft accounts, with their correct inventories, locations, and progression.
• Either player can later re-enter the Realm alone on their own device/profile and continue seamlessly from where they left off.
This is how the feature worked for years.
This is how Xbox still works today after receiving a fix.
What happens now (Switch and PS5):
• Player One joins normally.
• Player Two joins and is incorrectly assigned a Guest(1) profile instead of their Microsoft account.
• This Guest(1) account persists as guest data, not as the actual Microsoft-account player data.
• As long as both players always join together in the same order, the guest account appears consistent.
• But the moment Player Two logs in alone (or in a different sequence) their REAL Microsoft-account data loads instead of the guest data.
This leads to:
• Wrong inventory
• Wrong location
• No access to items or progress made during split-screen
• Switching back to split-screen loads the guest data again, not their true account data
In other words:
Split-screen forces Player Two into a guest account, and the game flips unpredictably between their real account and their guest account depending on login order.
This is not “working as designed.”
It used to work correctly, and Xbox already received a fix for this exact issue.
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My Specific Reproduction Case (Nintendo Switch)
Accounts:
• Switch Account: Kaptinn → Microsoft account KaptinnKyle
• Switch Account: Hannah → Microsoft account HannahFBanana
Steps:
1. I join my daughter’s Realm solo using my Switch account.
→ I load correctly as KaptinnKyle, with my full inventory and location.
2. We restart Minecraft and open the Realm via Hannah’s profile.
3. I press (+) to join as the second player and select the Kaptinn Switch account (which is definitely linked to KaptinnKyle).
What happens now:
• I appear in the Realm as HannahFBanana(1) (a guest account)
• My correct Microsoft account (KaptinnKyle) does not load
• I spawn at world default with an empty, brand-new inventory
• My real player progress is inaccessible
This is exactly the same behavior described by other Switch/PS5 users in MCPE-222048.
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Important Clarification (why this is NOT the intended “guest (1)” design)
A moderator earlier wrote:
“Signed-in players joining via split-screen may appear as guests with a ‘(1)’ next to their name instead of their gamertag (which is as designed); their player data should remain intact.”
The problem is:
The guest account’s data is the only data preserved.
The REAL Microsoft-account data is NOT used.
Players cannot:
• join on their real account,
• keep their real inventory,
• continue their own progress,
• or play solo later and find the world state they created in split-screen.
This is the opposite of how the feature worked historically.
This is why so many people (across Switch and PS5) are explaining that this is not a progress-loss bug but a multi-account sign-in failure specific to split-screen on Realms.
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Platform Comparison
• Xbox: This issue appeared months ago but was fixed quickly. Xbox players can again join Realms in split-screen under their real Microsoft accounts as normal.
• PS5 & Nintendo Switch: The issue remains completely unresolved. Both platforms still force Player Two into a guest profile, making individual progression impossible.
The fact that Xbox was fixed is strong evidence that:
1. This was not intentional, and
2. There is a known route to fixing it.
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Why This Matters
Families often purchase Realms specifically because the kids (or parents) want:
• to play together on the same console and
• continue individually on their own profiles with their own inventories.
That is no longer possible on Switch or PS5.
It defeats the purpose of paying for a Realm when half the household can no longer participate as themselves.
Many players in MCPE-222048 have canceled their Realm subscriptions for this reason.
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Request to Mojang
Please escalate this as the same bug that was fixed on Xbox: Multi-Account Split-Screen Realms Login Loading Guest Profiles instead of Real Microsoft Accounts. It is not merely generic progress decay.
The community reports are extremely consistent across months:
• This used to function correctly
• It broke after an update on both Switch & PS5
• Xbox already received a fix
• The remaining platforms need the same fix
• This is not intended design, and the change was never documented in any patch notes
We appreciate the team’s work on this, but right now it seems like the bug is being misunderstood internally as something else.
We hope this clarification helps align the reports with the real underlying problem.
Thank you for your attention and for reviewing this detailed clarification.