Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen also considers the subscription service a “critical piece” of the console’s experience.

GameChat took up a significant chunk of the recent Nintendo Switch 2 Direct and seems like the company’s answer to Discord on the system. Such is the focus from a hardware perspective that there’s a dedicated C button. While it’s free when the Switch 2 launches, it won’t stay that way forever.

As revealed during the Direct, the free window ends on March 31st, 2026. After that, you need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to use it. “You would be able to find out about the NSO subscription there and get a sense of some of the functionality,” said Nintendo of America’s VP of player and product experience, Bill Trinen, to Polygon. If not subscribed, the C button is pretty much useless.

Regarding attaching a price to GameChat’s use, Trinen said it’s “part of the overall platform experience” while adding that Nintendo Switch Online is a “critical piece of the Switch 2 experience.” Thus far, Nintendo has confirmed that Expansion Pack subscribers will get Switch 2 upgrades for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom alongside GameCube Classics.

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5th for $449.99, but recent tariffs have delayed US pre-orders.