This is possibly how party chat is going to work on Nintendo Switch, and it looks terrible

By Sherif Saed

How would you like to hook up your Nintendo Switch to your phone by way of a headset adaptor?

Right from the moment Nintendo first revealed that in order to use voice chat on the Switch, you’re going to need a smartphone app, reactions ranged from disbelief to confusion about exactly how this is going to work.

Despite revealing more details about the console’s online service overnight, Nintendo neglected to bring up this controversial point. Thanks to peripheral manufacturer Hori, though, we may finally have an idea about how voice chat is going to actually work.

In short: it’s a hot mess. As you can see in the promo images below, there’s a three-way adaptor that you connect to both your Switch and smartphone. The third connector is the one you’ll be plugging the headset into. There’s a mic mute button, a volume rocket, and a third button we’re not sure what it does.

Hori produces Nintendo-licensed products, and this Switch headset is no different. In fact, according to the tweet announcing it, buying this headset will enable a cosmetic change for your character in Splatoon 2 that shows everyone in-game you’re using the headset.

This headset is out July 21 alongside Splatoon 2. The Nintendo Switch Online Service is due for launch in 2018, but until then, using the console’s online functionality will remain free.