Nintendo Support

Guide for Parents/Guardians: Managing your Child's GameChat Experience with Parental Controls

GameChat is a Nintendo Switch 2 feature that allows users to use voice chat and video chat with each other, as well as share their screen and play games together. A persistent internet connection is required to use GameChat.

Welcome Offer: GameChat can be enjoyed for free until the end of March 2026. Afterwards, a Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required.

Parental Controls must be set using the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart device application before users under the age of 16 can use GameChat.

These Parental Controls settings will help you manage your child’s online interactions with their friends and ensure that they can enjoy a safe online experience.

What Parental Controls settings are available for GameChat?

After linking the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app to your Nintendo Switch 2 console, the following GameChat features are affected for users you supervise:

Friend Approval Requests

  • When your child wants to use GameChat with a friend, they must first send a request to you to approve that friend.

  • It’s not possible to chat with friends who have not been approved or with users who have not been added as a friend.

  • Approval for individual friends can be revoked at any time through the app.

  • If no friends are approved, your child will not be able to invite others to use GameChat or receive invitations to join a GameChat session.

Video Chat Approval Requests

  • Choose whether to allow your child to send requests to use the camera to you for approval, or disable camera usage entirely. While video chat is disabled, other users’ camera feeds will not be displayed to your child. Sharing the gameplay screen is not restricted on either side.

  • When the camera is enabled, you can also control how much of the video is visible to other users: only your child's face, your child's face and body but not their background or the full camera view. The setting you choose determines what options your child can pick from when video chat is enabled.

  • You can withdraw approval for video chat at any time through the app.

  • Please note that a USB video camera (sold separately) is required to use video chat.

Software Age Rating Restrictions

  • You can set restrictions on software age ratings through Parental Controls that prevent your child from playing or viewing games that are unsuitable for them, including during GameChat.

  • When other players in a GameChat session share their game screen while playing software that would be restricted by your Parental Controls settings, their game will not be shown on your child’s console.

  • When your child is invited to join a GameShare session during GameChat, Parental Controls restrictions on software ratings will apply. Your child will be unable to join GameShare for software that would be restricted by your Parental Controls settings.

What other GameChat features are available through the app?

The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart device app also keeps track of various usage stats specific to GameChat which you can review.

Daily Tracking

  • Whether your child played using GameChat, and if so, the start time and length of session are available.

  • Whether they used video chat.

  • Whether they used GameShare.

  • Details about which friends they interacted with in GameChat and which friends they used GameChat with for the first time.

Monthly Summary

  • Whether your child played using GameChat.

  • Details about which friends they interacted with in GameChat and which friends they used GameChat with for the first time.

How do I set up or adjust Parental Controls for GameChat?

Please read our guide for parents on GameChat first-time setup for detailed steps.

What else can I do with the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app?

A variety of other options for restrictions are available, such as restricting what software is playable based on age ratings and setting play time limits. For additional information about features in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app, please read our overview.

What other features or requirements are available in GameChat to help keep my child safe while playing?

To avoid abuse and misuse of the service, users who want to use GameChat must register a phone number to their Nintendo Account to verify their identity (or have a parent/guardian register a phone number to their own Nintendo Account). Welcome Offer: GameChat can be enjoyed for free until the end of March 2026. Afterwards, a Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required.

For all users, it is only possible to receive GameChat invites from, and send GameChat invites to, approved users on your friend list. If you have blocked a user who is in a session you were invited to, you will be prevented from joining the session. Users under the age of 16 will be prevented from joining a GameChat session that includes users who aren't on their friend list.

You can report users for bad behaviour directly within a GameChat session, as well as after leaving the session. If you report a user while in the session, you will leave the session automatically. Users who are found in violation of our code of conduct or the GameChat Terms of Use may have their access to GameChat restricted or incur more serious penalties.

If you would like to stop using GameChat entirely, you can withdraw your consent to the Terms of Use.

For more information about general GameChat features, please read our overview of the service.