Vivox has officially announced that they will be releasing a software development kit, or SDK for short, to add text and voice chat to Nintendo Switch games. According to VentureBeat, “This will enable third-party developers to use this tech for their multiplayer games”. A Vivox spokesperson told VentureBeat that “it was a happy coincidence, but we had been in the working with Nintendo to bring this to all Switch developers for a few months. We are always trying to expand our services to more developers, and the Nintendo Switch has clearly become a solid online gaming platform for users and developers. We wanted to make sure we would have a product that would deliver the best possible voice chat experience to Switch users, and that was what we’ve been focused on”. Hi-Rez Studio will use Vivox’s voice chat for Paladins and SMITE in future updates.
Thanks to Nintendo First Order Reaver for the tip!
im sure Nintendo wont bother with this for their 1st and 2nd party games (at least the voice chat portion, they may use the text portion) but will let 3rd parties have a go.
OOOH!!!! *squeals*!!! FINALLY!
Finally! What I’ve always wished the Nintendo Switch should have. It’s strange though that a third-party service will handle its text & Voice Chat system. Speaking of voice chat, this reminds me of Vita and 3DS. Surprisingly, these nearly 8-year-old systems both support a chat system.
this will not add voice chat to the switch OS, only for games that want it.
Kind of random, but I think it Would be cool if Nintendo would buy Discord and utilized it’s great features and options onto the console but I suppose the XboxLive deal may cover that
Or at the very least, rebuild their VC and communication structure similarly so it doesn’t suck.
Discord has started their own store to compete with Steam. I don’t see anyone buying Discord for quite a while if they can go toe to toe with Steam & give it some much needed competition.
This is actually better than Nintendo working on it. They’d bog the thing down with rules that are way too strict, anyway. After all, they did ruin Miiverse.