
Nintendo Switch 2 Owners In Taiwan And Southeast Asia Won’t Get Free GameChat
It seems that Nintendo Switch 2 owners in Taiwan, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian territories will not be entitled to the limited time free GameChat promotion.
Two months ago, Nintendo announced a special offer in major regions – Nintendo Switch 2 owners can enjoy GameChat for free even without a Nintendo Switch Online membership until March 31, 2026.
This promotion, however, doesn’t seem to apply to Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
On the official Nintendo Hong Kong website for GameChat, it is stated that GameChat can be enjoyed for free by all users until March 31, 2026, after which a Nintendo Switch Online membership would be required:
On the other hand, the same page for Taiwan states that a Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to use GameChat, and that the Taiwanese Nintendo eShop will be opened in 2025 with the launch timing to be announced at a later date. There is no mention of the free GameChat promotion.
The Nintendo Switch 2 press releases for both Taiwan and all four Southeast Asian markets (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines) also omitted all mention of the free GameChat offer, whereas the press release for Hong Kong mentioned it.
As Nintendo is very careful with what they put out on their official websites and promotional materials in various regions, the omission indicates that the free GameChat offer won’t be available in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
This disappointing piece of news comes after Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 will launch in Q3 2025 (July – September 2025) in Taiwan and Southeast Asia after the global launch on June 5, alongside news that Nintendo eShop and Nintendo Switch Online are unlikely to be ready on launch day in these regions. Nintendo has not provided an official explanation for the delay, despite the fact that past Nintendo consoles, such as Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS, launched in Singapore (one of the Southeast Asian markets) on the same day globally as other regions.
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