Splatoon 2 gets companion app through Nintendo Switch Online (update)

SplatNet 2 is a mobile service designed for Splatoon 2, and it’s coming to Nintendo Switch Online. The console’s smartphone application launches alongside Splatoon 2 on July 21, making it will be among the first games to support it.

SplatNet 2 will let players keep track of different stage schedules, stats, ranking details and the amount of ink they’ve spilled over the course of the game. It will support in-game voice chat and allow players to make private lobbies with their friends as well. SplatNet 2 will be exclusive to smartphones and included as part of the Nintendo Switch Online application.

Nintendo hasn’t given many details before on the Nintendo Switch Online application, which will be required to use its upcoming online service. The subscription program will be offered to players for free when it launches later this year, but Nintendo will start charging an annual fee starting in 2018. It will cost $19.99 annually.

Whether other current games will use the Nintendo Switch Online app in similar ways to Splatoon 2 remains to be seen. Expect Nintendo to start talking up the app more in the coming months.

Splatoon 2 launches July 21.

Update: Nintendo confirmed that the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app will launch on July 21, just in time for Splatoon 2.