Nintendo is launching a smartphone app for players using its all-in-one Switch console.
The app, which will hit iOS and Android smartphones on 21 July, "lets players send multiplayer invites to their friends via social media" and "enables the use of voice chat".
However, The Verge warns it is "still an early version" and that an update with more features is "set to release with the full launch of the Switch's online service sometime in 2018".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
While Nintendo's multiplayer features are currently free to access on the Switch, the full version will cost pla $20 (£16) per year when it launches, The Independent says. For this, they will have access to online multiplayer matches, store discounts and player chats.
The app appears on the same day as the paint-based multiplayer shooter Splatoon 2, which sees players fight using paint guns to take over a battle map.
The winner is the person who paints the map the fastest.
The Daily Express says ten Switch players can connect their devices to hold their own multiplayer tournaments.
Splatoon 2 comes with a host of features available through the Nintendo smartphone app, allowing users to customise their load-outs and examine their multiplayer statistics.
A free demo of the game will launch on 15 July, says EuroGamer, but it will only be playable between 5 and 9pm.
Nintendo Switch: Classic games launching in 2018
2 June
Nintendo plans to open its backlog of classic games on its all-in-one Switch console as part of the company's new online subscription service, reports Kotaku.
The online service, which arrives next year, will cost $20 (£16) for an annual subscription, says the website. It will allow players to access a host of classic titles from Nintendo's history.
There will also be a $4 (£3) option for one month's access. A three-month subscription will cost $8 (£6).
"Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play," the Japanese games giant told Kotaku.
It adds: "Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription".
The games confirmed to Kotaku include Super Mario Bros. 3 and Dr. Mario from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nintendo says that "Super NES games continue to be under consideration".
Switch owners can currently access multiplayer for free, but Gamespot says players will need to pay next year's subscription fee for the company's online service in order to play with friends over the internet.
Members of the online service are entitled to regular deals through the eShop marketplace, adds the site. These are similar to the incentives offered on Microsoft and Sony's consoles.
There's no specific launch date for Nintendo's online programme, but it will be available at some point next year. More details about the company's new and classic games are expected at E3, which runs from 13 to 15 June.
