Hori’s odd Splatoon 2 headset to include squid adaptor to bypass Switch’s phone-based voice chat

Many eyebrows were raised when Nintendo announced that Switch owners would have to use their smartphones for voice chat when playing games online as part of its paid subscription service (which has now been delayed until early 2018, Nintendo announced this morning), but peripherals manufacturer Hori is likely to raise even more with its official Splatoon 2 headset.

Announced via the official Splatoon Twitter account, the headset will feature interchangeable green and pink ear cup covers to match the game’s colour scheme, but it will also come with a squid-shaped adaptor (but of course) to allow users to use its built-in microphone rather than relying on their smartphones.

As you can see in Hori’s handy diagram below, the solution is a little convoluted, involving several wires between your Switch, smartphone and the headset, but the end result means users can listen to both the game’s music and chat with friends without disturbing others.

According to Siliconera, each cable measures less than 20in (around 50cm), so it may start to get a bit cumbersome when playing in handheld mode, but should be more suitable when playing in table-top mode. The adaptor also allows you to turn the detachable microphone on and off.

Splatoon 2 is due to launch on July 17th in the UK, and the headset will launch in Japan on the same day for3,480 (around 24). A worldwide release has yet to be confirmed, but we’ll update this article with UK pricing as and when it’s announced.