One of the Switch 2's new features is GameChat, a feature so important that Nintendo created a dedicated button, the C button, for it. There are quite a few things to know about GameChat for Switch 2, so we're rounding up everything we've learned so far ahead of the Switch 2 launch on June 5.
GameChat is a new feature for the Switch 2 that allows groups of up to 12 people to chat while playing games. Nintendo is often criticized for being late to the game when it comes to online functionality, and many have pointed out that GameChat offers what Discord has for years. But GameChat is a built-in service for Switch 2 that Nintendo has been working on since 2020, and the company believes it is a "defining" feature of the Switch 2.
Nintendo's developers said the company wanted to replicate the experience of a "student lounge," that is, a place where people gather and mingle.
For GameChat on Switch 2, people can share their screens in real time, and they don't have to be playing the same game. Nintendo said, "We wanted to create a space where people would naturally gather, whether it's to play the same game together, or different games, or even just to watch."
Nintendo said it foresees the possibility of players using GameChat to help them get through a particularly challenging puzzle or part of a game. If two people are playing the same game but separately, one person can ask a friend for help, and the other person can share their screen.
Nintendo said it believed it would be "bothersome" to have to pause a game, return to the Home screen, and then launch a GameChat session. So the designers convinced the hardware team to create a dedicated button, the C button, to launch GameChat from. Nintendo's designers said this was a "very last-minute request," and it was made "just before" the Joy-Con controller molds were made. As you can see in the image below, the C button is located at the bottom of the right Joy-Con.
Behold, the C button (effect added).
GameChat for Switch 2 leverages the console's built-in microphone, while users can also connect a USB-C camera for video chats. Nintendo is selling its own Switch 2 camera, while a third-party company is offering a Piranha Plant-themed camera. The built-in microphone contains noise-cancelling technology so only the desired sounds come through. Nintendo says someone in the same room could be making a smoothie in a blender and it wouldn't negatively impact the audio quality of a GameChat chat.
GameChat is baked into Nintendo titles like Mario Kart World and Super Mario Party Jamboree, allowing players to see live footage of their friends and hear them speak in real time during gameplay. As you can see in the image below, GameChat allows users to have multiple feeds at the bottom of their main screen, showing what friends are up to. In some games, like Mario Kart World, your friend's faces can be placed next to their characters, so you can see them during matches.
What GameChat looks like on Switch 2 with the camera and different games.
When the Switch 2 launches in June, everyone can use GameChat for free. However, GameChat will become a paid service included with Nintendo Switch Online beginning April 1, 2026. Some have speculated that Nintendo is going to raise the price of Nintendo Switch Online memberships, too, but that hasn't happened yet.
Given that GameChat will be a paid Nintendo Switch Online feature in 2026, the C button will be useless for people who don't have a paid membership. Rest assured, though, that pressing the C button without a membership will not lead to anything bad happening. Instead, pressing the button will take you to a page encouraging you to sign up for NSO.
During the April Nintendo Direct for Switch 2, Nintendo showed off GameChat and many people remarked that the video quality didn't look all that great. The frame rate, in particular, was choppy to say the least. Nintendo explained that it intentionally made GameChat the smallest footprint possible to save system resources for the games themselves.
"In order to explain this well, I think it might first help to explain about the resources the system has," Switch 2 hardware director Takuhiro Dohta said, via a translator. "So obviously, chat is meant to run and work simultaneously and coincide with the game you're playing. But we also think it's critical that it doesn't get in the way of the game that's running right now. And so we wanted to definitely make sure we do was to make sure that running game chat alongside the game doesn't result in the game experience or quality being reduced at all in any way.
"So from a system resource perspective, obviously even the Nintendo Switch had a set of system resources that it needed to tap into to run the system. And now that we have Nintendo Switch 2, there is bigger, more, basically resource budget to use. However, even with that enhanced and larger budget, we try to use as little of that as possible. And they made it happen somehow. And within that small slice of the resource budget, there's other things to take into consideration, like network systems, all that kind of stuff, and all of that taking into account is where we landed in terms of quality of the video that you saw in the footage."
Nintendo previously outlined the steps being taken to ensure safety when using GameChat, including audio and video chats. The company may collect and record video and audio chats, but only in the event that a report is filed; otherwise, the data is stored locally on the Switch 2 device. To begin with, players will not be able to use GameChat with everyone on their friend list by default.
"We assume some players will have somebody on their friend list who they've only played online with once, and yet somehow, they ended up accepting their friend request. Given that possibility, players might feel uncomfortable if suddenly everyone on their friend list can invite them to a video chat," Switch 2 designer Sumikazu Ono said. "With that in mind, during the initial setup, you can choose the friends you want to be able to chat with from your friend list before you start using GameChat."
If you join a room created by a friend, players will only see people you or your friend have approved from GameChat. Before joining a room, players will see if a friend of a friend is in the room--if they don't want to join for any reason, they don't have to.
With regard to protecting the safety of children, Ono said Nintendo had a "lot of internal discussion" on this topic--it was decided that children under 16 can only use GameChat with people on their friend list if their parent or guardian has given permission via the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app.
"In the case of voice chat, once a parent gives their child approval to chat with a particular person, their child will always be able to connect with the approved person from then on," Ono said.
Nintendo takes an "even more cautious" approach for video chats. "When a child tries to start or join a video chat on their Switch 2, a request is sent to the parent's app. The request must be approved before the video chat can begin. While children may feel a bit restricted, we decided to prioritize safety and require parents to approve the request every time," Ono said.
The Nintendo Switch 2 camera has a "privacy shutter" that closes when not in use--as such, players should be able to see at a glance if the camera is on or off.
"We want everyone to feel comfortable using this feature, so we've placed a high priority on safety to avoid any unpleasant experiences. Of course, we want all players to follow the Community Guidelines, even when chatting with friends," Ono said.
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, priced at $450 by itself or $500 for a bundle that includes the system and a copy of Mario Kart World. Preorders opened in April, and while the initial stock quickly sold through, there should be more waves of preorders in the time ahead. Be sure to consult GameSpot's Switch 2 preorder guide to help give yourself the best chance at securing a unit for launch. While the Switch 2 remains sold out, you can grab a Switch 2 Camera now.
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What is GameChat?
GameChat is a new feature for the Switch 2 that allows groups of up to 12 people to chat while playing games. Nintendo is often criticized for being late to the game when it comes to online functionality, and many have pointed out that GameChat offers what Discord has for years. But GameChat is a built-in service for Switch 2 that Nintendo has been working on since 2020, and the company believes it is a "defining" feature of the Switch 2.
Nintendo's developers said the company wanted to replicate the experience of a "student lounge," that is, a place where people gather and mingle.
For GameChat on Switch 2, people can share their screens in real time, and they don't have to be playing the same game. Nintendo said, "We wanted to create a space where people would naturally gather, whether it's to play the same game together, or different games, or even just to watch."
Nintendo said it foresees the possibility of players using GameChat to help them get through a particularly challenging puzzle or part of a game. If two people are playing the same game but separately, one person can ask a friend for help, and the other person can share their screen.
The C Button
Nintendo said it believed it would be "bothersome" to have to pause a game, return to the Home screen, and then launch a GameChat session. So the designers convinced the hardware team to create a dedicated button, the C button, to launch GameChat from. Nintendo's designers said this was a "very last-minute request," and it was made "just before" the Joy-Con controller molds were made. As you can see in the image below, the C button is located at the bottom of the right Joy-Con.
Behold, the C button (effect added).
Camera And Microphone Support
GameChat for Switch 2 leverages the console's built-in microphone, while users can also connect a USB-C camera for video chats. Nintendo is selling its own Switch 2 camera, while a third-party company is offering a Piranha Plant-themed camera. The built-in microphone contains noise-cancelling technology so only the desired sounds come through. Nintendo says someone in the same room could be making a smoothie in a blender and it wouldn't negatively impact the audio quality of a GameChat chat.
GameChat is baked into Nintendo titles like Mario Kart World and Super Mario Party Jamboree, allowing players to see live footage of their friends and hear them speak in real time during gameplay. As you can see in the image below, GameChat allows users to have multiple feeds at the bottom of their main screen, showing what friends are up to. In some games, like Mario Kart World, your friend's faces can be placed next to their characters, so you can see them during matches.
What GameChat looks like on Switch 2 with the camera and different games.
GameChat Won't Be Free Forever
When the Switch 2 launches in June, everyone can use GameChat for free. However, GameChat will become a paid service included with Nintendo Switch Online beginning April 1, 2026. Some have speculated that Nintendo is going to raise the price of Nintendo Switch Online memberships, too, but that hasn't happened yet.
Given that GameChat will be a paid Nintendo Switch Online feature in 2026, the C button will be useless for people who don't have a paid membership. Rest assured, though, that pressing the C button without a membership will not lead to anything bad happening. Instead, pressing the button will take you to a page encouraging you to sign up for NSO.
Video Quality
During the April Nintendo Direct for Switch 2, Nintendo showed off GameChat and many people remarked that the video quality didn't look all that great. The frame rate, in particular, was choppy to say the least. Nintendo explained that it intentionally made GameChat the smallest footprint possible to save system resources for the games themselves.
"In order to explain this well, I think it might first help to explain about the resources the system has," Switch 2 hardware director Takuhiro Dohta said, via a translator. "So obviously, chat is meant to run and work simultaneously and coincide with the game you're playing. But we also think it's critical that it doesn't get in the way of the game that's running right now. And so we wanted to definitely make sure we do was to make sure that running game chat alongside the game doesn't result in the game experience or quality being reduced at all in any way.
"So from a system resource perspective, obviously even the Nintendo Switch had a set of system resources that it needed to tap into to run the system. And now that we have Nintendo Switch 2, there is bigger, more, basically resource budget to use. However, even with that enhanced and larger budget, we try to use as little of that as possible. And they made it happen somehow. And within that small slice of the resource budget, there's other things to take into consideration, like network systems, all that kind of stuff, and all of that taking into account is where we landed in terms of quality of the video that you saw in the footage."
Safety Concerns
Nintendo previously outlined the steps being taken to ensure safety when using GameChat, including audio and video chats. The company may collect and record video and audio chats, but only in the event that a report is filed; otherwise, the data is stored locally on the Switch 2 device. To begin with, players will not be able to use GameChat with everyone on their friend list by default.
"We assume some players will have somebody on their friend list who they've only played online with once, and yet somehow, they ended up accepting their friend request. Given that possibility, players might feel uncomfortable if suddenly everyone on their friend list can invite them to a video chat," Switch 2 designer Sumikazu Ono said. "With that in mind, during the initial setup, you can choose the friends you want to be able to chat with from your friend list before you start using GameChat."
If you join a room created by a friend, players will only see people you or your friend have approved from GameChat. Before joining a room, players will see if a friend of a friend is in the room--if they don't want to join for any reason, they don't have to.
With regard to protecting the safety of children, Ono said Nintendo had a "lot of internal discussion" on this topic--it was decided that children under 16 can only use GameChat with people on their friend list if their parent or guardian has given permission via the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app.
"In the case of voice chat, once a parent gives their child approval to chat with a particular person, their child will always be able to connect with the approved person from then on," Ono said.
Nintendo takes an "even more cautious" approach for video chats. "When a child tries to start or join a video chat on their Switch 2, a request is sent to the parent's app. The request must be approved before the video chat can begin. While children may feel a bit restricted, we decided to prioritize safety and require parents to approve the request every time," Ono said.
The Nintendo Switch 2 camera has a "privacy shutter" that closes when not in use--as such, players should be able to see at a glance if the camera is on or off.
"We want everyone to feel comfortable using this feature, so we've placed a high priority on safety to avoid any unpleasant experiences. Of course, we want all players to follow the Community Guidelines, even when chatting with friends," Ono said.
Preorder The Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, priced at $450 by itself or $500 for a bundle that includes the system and a copy of Mario Kart World. Preorders opened in April, and while the initial stock quickly sold through, there should be more waves of preorders in the time ahead. Be sure to consult GameSpot's Switch 2 preorder guide to help give yourself the best chance at securing a unit for launch. While the Switch 2 remains sold out, you can grab a Switch 2 Camera now.
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