Nintendo gets Vivox text and voice chat for Switch games

Vivox announced today that it’s releasing a software development kit (SDK) to add text and voice chat to Nintendo Switch games. This will enable third-party developers to use this tech for their multiplayer games, which is helpful because Nintendo’s own online architecture doesn’t include online voice chat. Epic Games’ Fortnite is one of a number of games that use Vivox on Switch for multiplayer chat, and this tech also offers cross-platform play support (where you play on one platform against those on another).

This announcement comes on the heels of Unity Technologies’ acquisition of Vivox on January 29. I asked if the timing of the announcement had anything to do with last week’s Unity acquisition.