Nintendo Switch 2’s Mysterious C-Button is For GameChat

The function behind the mysterious “C” button on the new Nintendo Switch 2 has been revealed, adding a new built-in chat feature that should feal very familiar to Discord users. Players have been speculating on what the C button could be in the weeks leading up to today’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct.

Nintendo Switch 2 Will Feature GameChat, Its Own Built-In Version of Discord

Hitting the “C” button will open the new GameChat program, which includes several features you’d see in third-party chat programs like Discord. Players will be able to chat with one another in a call, share their screens, and appear on video (with the new external Switch 2 camera). This feature was the first primary new feature shown during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will also include a built-in microphone, that Nintendo claims will be able to pick up your voice “clearly from a distance” even if there’s noise around you. GameChat will work in both handheld mode and while in a stand. It’s clear though that the Switch 2 is limited in how well it can display shared streams from other players, as the trailer shown at the Direct showed them having a very low frame rate.

A Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required to use GameChat, however, it will be available without a membership for a limited “open-access” period. Any Switch 2 user will be able to use GameChat without a Nintendo Switch Online membership until March 31, 2026.

Is GameChat what you were hoping for out of the Ninendo Switch 2’s “C” button?