One of the most interesting changes Blizzard made with Hearthstone affecting the way people traditionally make competitive games was to strip out almost all communication. There was no voice chat and no typing either, just some pre-set phrases that allowed a modicum of back and forth. While its other games haven’t been quite so restricted, friends and family will soon be able to play together without resorting to third party services, as Blizzard is now set to introduce a voice chat system to the entire Battle.net ecosystem.
Initially thought to be just part of Blizzard’s upcoming Overwatch shooter, the voice chat function looks set to become an intrinsic part of the Battle.net platform, much as it has become a part of Steam and other services.
While it has been announced for Overwatch, there was also an FAQ entry in the blog announcement asking whether Voice Chat will be supported in other Blizzard games.
“With voice chat still in its early development and testing stages, it’s too early to say which Blizzard games will be supported and when,” the answer reads.
The announcement has prompted many fans to begin requesting it in their favorite Blizzard title. Heroes of the Storm, the fast-paced MOBA title, is one that many people would like to see this sort of functionality in, be it for setting up parties or coordinating tactics with people who are previously unknown to the other players.
One commenter also brings up an interesting point. If voice chat is enabled, players will want to be able to turn it off and appear offline to other people. They want to play with others on their terms, not just whenever people see them online.
Others have also called for features like a mute function for individual players, as it’s fairly certain that any voice chat function will be abused by a vocal minority.
What would you like to see in the Battle.net Voice Chat function?
