The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct presentation is still several weeks away (it’s scheduled for April 2). This has led to a sparsity of concrete Switch 2 information as the gaming giant is seemingly saving up its official announcements for that date.
Fortunately, the rumor mill hasn’t stopped churning, and the latest morsel is one of our most intriguing yet.
A recent patent filing (spotted by Wccftech) suggests that Nintendo Switch 2 may fix one of its predecessor’s major issues: Its highly restrictive voice chat. According to the patent, Switch 2 could offer proximity chat and the functionality would be accessible from the console's operating system.
Fixing a major Switch issue
On the surface, this may not seem like a big deal. After all, being able to easily communicate with players online has been a staple of Xbox and PlayStation hardware for three console generations. However, the current Nintendo Switch does not make talking to other players easy.
If you want to talk to your fellow players in the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Splatoon 3 on Nintendo Switch, you’ll need to make use of the Nintendo Switch Online App.
This requires a compatible smartphone and a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. And if those restrictions weren’t enough of a headache, the feature is also highly cumbersome and often unreliable.
A switch to voice chat that can accessed directly on the Switch 2 console would be hugely welcome and would massively upgrade the online experience on Switch.
This is an area that Nintendo does need to improve quickly if it wants to keep pace with Sony and Microsoft’s hardware.
The "C" button's purpose?
It’s important to note, that this patent only talks about the feature in relation to first-party games (aka games published directly by Nintendo), and it’s also proximity chat rather than party chat.
The former is the ability to speak to other players when close to them in-game, rather than being able to set up a “party,” allowing you to talk even across different games.
Nevertheless, it could be a major improvement for Switch 2 over its predecessor.
There’s also been some speculation online that the current mystery button (usually referred to as the “C” button) could be a dedicated “chat” button. Allowing Switch 2 owners to speak to other players online at literally the press of a button. Though, for now, this is all just speculation.
We expect to learn a whole lot more about the Nintendo Switch 2 in just a matter of weeks during the dedicated Direct event. A release date is also expected at this showcase.
In the meantime, we have a Nintendo Switch 2 hub that collects together everything we know about the upcoming handheld/home hybrids and also recaps the biggest rumors right now.
More from Tom's Guide
- Nintendo Switch 2 — everything we know so far
- Epic Nintendo Switch sale is live from $4
- Nintendo Switch 2 price rumors and predictions
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