Fortnite uses the Switch hardware for voice chat, not the Switch mobile app

Following the announcement and sudden release of Fortnite for the Nitnedo Switch, the team behind the game sat down to offer a look at how the game runs on Switch during Nitnedo's live-streamed Treehouse showcase. 

During a portion of that conversation captured by Wario64 on Twitter, it was revealed that the free-to-play battle royale game will use the Switch’s own hardware for in-game voice chat.

This is especially notable since the Switch’s other big multiplayer title, Splatoon 2, does not offer voice chat in the actual Switch game itself and instead requires players to download the Nintendo mobile app and route voice chat through their mobile devices.

The actual feature goes live in Fortnite later this week. Fortnite’s ability to use the Switch itself for voice chat makes Nintendo’s decision to use external hardware for Splatoon 2 even more curious, especially since Splatoon 2’s system requires a complicated setup and an external adapter in order to capture in-game audio from the Switch and chat audio from a mobile device in a single headset.