If you want to chat with your friends while playing something like Splatoon 2 online, you'll need to download the Nintendo Switch Online app for your smartphone and sign in with your Nintendo account. Then you need to create a password-protected room in-game, then push that to your device. If you want to chat with your friends in the newly-released Switch version of Fortnite, all you need to do is plug in any pair of mic-enabled headphones to the Switch headphone jack.
Huh.
Indeed, Epic Games has confirmed via a Nintendo Treehouse Live appearance that "party voice" for the Switch version of Fortnite will get turned on Thursday morning (June 14). Beyond that, you can communicate with your squad regardless of what platform they're playing on -- except of course Sony's PlayStation 4.
Seriously though. Paul Tassi wrote this up but it needs to be amplified: if you're playing on PS4 and plan to play on Switch at some point, do not under any circumstances link your PS4 to your Epic account. You will be blocked using that account on the Switch due to Sony's ridiculously aggressive policy. iOS, Android, PC and Xbox One users are perfectly safe.
Anyway, to be fair to Splatoon 2, that game does have similar functionality when entering LAN mode, but it's not the greatest experience. For the majority of Nintendo's own online-enabled games, you'll need both a Nintendo Online subscription and the app to tap into voice chat. Frankly, that's ridiculous, but I'm the guy who will grudgingly subscribe just to upload my Switch saves to the cloud for some peace of mind. The rest is gravy in my eyes.
Seamless, plug-and-play voice chat in general is a bit of a rarity on the Switch, so kudos to Epic for blazing a trail here. We'll find out if it lives up to expectations when it gets activated tomorrow.
