Skip to main content

Blizzard launches cross-game voice chat service Blizzard Voice

blizzard voice chat service hearthstone card game
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Last October, Blizzard announced plans to add voice chat to its multiplayer platform, which was then known as Battle.net. Now, almost a year to the day since that announcement was made, the company has rolled out the Blizzard Voice service to all users.

The functionality of Blizzard Voice is broadly similar to that of Steam Voice Chat, according to a report from Engadget. Players can talk to both friends and friends of friends whether they’re in-game or not, as long as the Blizzard Launcher program is running.

Recommended Videos

That means that you can chat with your friend about their Hearthstone draft while you’re digging away at a raid in World of Warcraft. Blizzard claims that its chat platform offers “superior stability” and extensive customization options in the patch notes for the update that adds Voice capabilities to the launcher.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

However, the service omits one major feature that would have benefited many players; it’s not a traditional in-game chat system. That means that you won’t be able to use the Blizzard Voice platform to strategize with other players as you’re preparing for a round of Overwatch, unless they’re your friend, or a friend-of-a-friend.

Some will be disappointed by this omission, while others would perhaps prefer to keep their distance from the small, obnoxious subset of players who will take advantage of any opportunity to annoy their opponents. It’s worth noting that Blizzard Voice does allow users to mute or adjust the volume of others on an individual basis.

While Blizzard Voice doesn’t offer completely comprehensive chat options just yet, there’s every possibility that more features will be added in the future. To gain access to this new functionality, users should make sure that their installation of Blizzard Launcher has been updated to the most recent version.

Brad Jones
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
GOG takes on Blizzard in a big win for game preservation
An orc and human battle in Warcraft Remastered art.

As if its connection to Activision and various scandals over the past few years weren't enough, Blizzard announced its intention to delist Warcraft and Warcraft 2 from GOG, shortly after launching its own, overpriced versions of the two games. Capitalism, right? GOG basically quoted Twisted Sister and said they're not going to take it, and has vowed to make the two games available for anyone who already purchased them, delisted or not.

In what can only amount to Malfurion Stormrage-sized finger to Blizzard, GOG launched its own sale for the two games before they leave the store on December 13. The discount code MakeWarcraftLiveForever will knock $2 off the price of the games, and it's already just $15 for both at GOG.

Read more
Samsung’s new cloud service lets you play games without downloading them
A computer generated image of a Samsung phone with a gaming hub logo on it. It's surrounded by floating game iconography, like a controller, a die, and a car.

Samsung has a new way for Galaxy users to play games. The device manufacturer has been working on getting into the gaming space for a couple years, and its latest venture is a free mobile gaming platform that'll let you stream Android games through the cloud on a Galaxy device.

The program entered beta last year in the Gaming Hub, and is now available to the public. There will be 23 games available at launch, including Monopoly Go, Candy Crush Saga, and Honor of Kings. 

Read more
ChatGPT already listens and speaks. Soon it may see as well
ChatGPT meets a dog

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, which allows users to converse with the chatbot in real time, could soon gain the gift of sight, according to code discovered in the platform's latest beta build. While OpenAI has not yet confirmed the specific release of the new feature, code in the ChatGPT v1.2024.317 beta build spotted by Android Authority suggests that the so-called "live camera" could be imminently forthcoming.

OpenAI had first shown off Advanced Voice Mode's vision capabilities for ChatGPT in May, when the feature was first launched in alpha. During a demo posted at the time, the system was able to identify that it was looking at a dog through the phone's camera feed, identify the dog based on past interactions, recognize the dog's ball, and associate the dog's relationship to the ball (i.e. playing fetch).

Read more