Nintendo Switch 2 launch date: Console features include interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers

Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers.

At its 60-minute Nintendo Direct presentation, the company revealed new information about the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware and software.

Central to its updated portable gaming console is a new “C” button on its Joy Con controller, which will launch a new “GameChat” that allows you to “communicate with friends and family while playing a game” and let you share your game screen with other players.

A built-in microphone at the top of the system will also allow you to talk to other gamers.

The new console will be backwards compatible — able to play physical and digital Switch games – although some may not be supported or fully compatible with the Switch 2, Nintendo said.