Nintendo explains low frame rate for Switch 2 GameChat screen sharing

During the Nintendo Switch 2-focussed Direct, gamers were quick to notice that one of Nintendo's main features for the Switch 2 wasn't working as smoothly as the company may have wanted. This feature is GameChat, specifically the game screen sharing option.

Skip to 1:30 for laggy game screen sharing

The presentation showed a group of players enjoying a game of Mario Kart World, with Nintendo then saying if a player wants to share the screen of their game, they simply need to press the new C button (GameChat button) and select the share screen option. This feature works across titles, meaning players don't have to be in the same game to share their game with other players in what appears to be a Discord-like room that players can join.

Unfortunately, it appears these shared screens, which during the presentation can be up to four at one time have a significantly reduced frame rate. In a recent interview with GameSpot, Nintendo Switch 2 hardware director Takuhiro Dohta explained why these shared screens have a reduced frame rate, saying Nintendo wants game screen sharing to be useful but not get in the way of the main game that's being played.

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Additionally, Nintendo has implemented a reduced frame rate to make sure the experience and overall quality of the main game being played isn't diminished by the feature.

"Obviously, chat is meant to run and work simultaneously and coincide with the game you're playing," Dohta explained. "But we also think it's critical that it doesn't get in the way of the game that's running right now. And so we wanted to definitely make sure what we do was to make sure that running Game Chat alongside the game doesn't result in the game experience or quality being reduced at all in any way."

So, what is the frame rate? Reports indicate the footage Nintendo showed of game screen sharing was 10FPS, which is extremely low compared to what the system is capable of - 30FPS, 60FPS, and 120FPS.

"As Nintendo, one thing we really put emphasis on is making sure that everyone experiences a very even experience when it comes to the quality of service that they're experiencing," said Technical director Tetsuya Sasaki. "And based on this emphasis that we prioritize - obviously if somebody is in a better environment, they're going to get better results in terms of their experience - but we really wanted to make sure that more than anything people had an equal or even playing field, or even experience, rather. And I think that was our priority as an entertainment company."

"And the other aspect of this is that we want to make sure that there is enough power reserved for the games themselves. And so we have a smaller area to play around in within to make sure that all these varying aspects to fit into, things like network environment connectivity. And so we landed on within this margin that we have to work within, this is a good even experience that we can provide."