Nintendo Rewards Players With Points for Trying Switch 2's New GameChat Button

For most Switch 2 owners, the C button on the right Joy-Con 2 has served exactly one unintended purpose: interrupting gameplay when a finger grazes it while reaching for the Home button. Nintendo, apparently aware of that reality, has started paying people to press it deliberately.

Starting April 2, Nintendo Switch Online members can earn 100 My Nintendo Platinum Points simply by opening GameChat through the C button or the HOME Menu icon and completing its initial setup. The offer runs through April 22 at 5:59 PM PT. Those 100 points convert directly into cosmetics: GameChat-themed user icons cost 10 Platinum Points each, unlocking up to 13 profile elements. Players must collect their points through the Nintendo Switch Online app within 30 days of completing the mission.

The timing is not coincidental. Nintendo ended its "GameChat Welcome Offer" free trial on March 31, 2026, nearly a year after the Switch 2 launched at $449.99 on June 5, 2025. As of April 1, GameChat requires an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription, priced at $19.99 per year or $7.99 for three months. The standard tier suffices; the pricier Expansion Pack is not required.

That paywall placed Nintendo in uncomfortable company. Party chat remains free on both PlayStation and Xbox, a gap that drew pointed commentary from players online, with one commenter noting bluntly: "I don't have to pay for party chat features on any other platform including PlayStation and Xbox." GameSpot published an editorial headlined "PSA: You'll Have To Pay For Switch 2's GameChat Tomorrow, And It's Not Worth It."

Into that environment, Nintendo introduced the Platinum Points promotion. The mechanics are straightforward but deliberate: completing the mission plants users inside a feature they might otherwise never touch, especially now that accessing it costs money. The 13 available icons, each redeemable for 10 of the 100 earned points, function as a collectible loop designed to make the C button feel purposeful rather than vestigial, building muscle memory around a shortcut Nintendo needs users to internalize before GameChat can justify its subscription price.

Nintendo had positioned GameChat as the Switch 2's "defining" feature long before it required a subscription. The C button itself was added to the Joy-Con 2 as a "very last-minute request," inserted just before the controller molds were finalized. Developer Tamura, speaking in Nintendo's "Ask the Developer Vol. 17" interview series, said: "I think having the C Button was absolutely the right choice." The rationale was friction reduction: Nintendo considered it "bothersome" for players to pause a game, return to the Home screen, and then navigate to a chat session.

GameChat supports voice chat for up to 12 participants and video with screen sharing for up to four simultaneously. Its GameShare mode allows users to stream a game to friends in the chat even if those friends do not own the title. Video requires a separately sold USB-C compatible camera, and phone number registration is mandatory for all users, with children requiring parental approval through the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app.

The promotion's real function is conversion: 100 points and 13 icons are a low-cost way for Nintendo's Kyoto team to push a critical adoption metric for the feature it built a hardware button around. Whether the reward loop outlasts the novelty, and whether Switch 2 owners come to press the C button on purpose, will determine how well that bet paid off.