Parties and voice chat

Parties let you communicate with other players via voice and text chat even when you aren't currently in a game. You can connect a microphone to your device, Stadia Controller, or computer to communicate with each other, and send a game link to party members so you can play games together.

Parties are available on your TV and on stadia.com, and will be coming soon to supported mobile devices. In addition to parties, you can invite other players to multiplayer games that have online multiplayer modes.

Note: If you're using a supervised account, you can't set up public parties or join them without being invited.

Find and join a public party (stadia.com only)

You can find and join public parties on your social panel:

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Parties.
4. Search for and select a party select Join party.

Join a private party

Before you can join a private party, a party member must send you an invite or share a link with you. To respond to an invite, press the Stadia button on your Stadia Controller (or Shift + Tab on your computer keyboard).

Start a public party (stadia.com only)

After you create a public party on stadia.com, other players can find and join the party without an invite. When you've found enough additional players, the party will automatically become private.

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Parties Start a party Public party.
4. Search for or select a game you want to play, write a party description, then select the number of additional players you want in your party.
5. Select Start party.

Start a private party

Players will need to accept an invitation from a party member or use a link to join a private party.

On a TV

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a third-party controller, press the Home button.
3. Select Start a party.
4. Select one or more players to invite.
5. At the top, select Invite.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account at stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Parties Start a party Private party.
4. Next to a player's name, click Invite .
   • You can also search for players you want to invite.

Send a game link to your party

When you're the party leader, you can send a game link to your party so they can join you in a game:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On your computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select Play with party.

Any member of the party can access the game link on the party menu to join the game later. To send the link again, select Resend game link.

If you're playing a game when all additional members have joined your party, you'll get a notification. When this happens, press the Stadia button (or Shift + Tab on your keyboard) to access your social panel and send a game link to the rest of your party so they can join you in the game.

Invite players to your party with a link

On stadia.com, after you create a party, you can send an invite link to your friends so they can quickly join it:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select View party Copy invite link.

After the words "Link copied" appear, paste the link where your friends can find it.

Change party settings

After you create a party, you can change audio options, mute or remove players, send text messages to the party, set a new party leader, and more:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select View party.

Here are some settings you can change:

• To invite more players to your party, select Invite.
• To mute or unmute a player, select the icon next to their name.
• To remove a player from the party, select a player's name Remove from party.
• To set a new party leader, select a player's name select Set as party leader (or Set as leader).
• To adjust party audio, select Options .

Some settings can only be changed on stadia.com:

• To switch your party between public and private, select Change party to public or Change party to private.
• To change details like your party description, select Options Edit party details.

Manage party invites

If another player sends you a party invite, it will show up on your screen as a pop-up notification. If you miss the invite, you can find it in the Stadia menu:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
   • On a third-party controller, press the Home button.
2. Select the party invitation.
   • If you have more than one invitation, select Notifications first.
3. Choose Dismiss or Join.

Note: Party invitations will remain in your menu until you choose Dismiss or Join. If you're already in a party when you get an invitation, select Switch party to leave your current party and join the new one. You can only be in one party at a time.

Change who can send you party invites

To change who can send you invites, adjust your privacy settings.

Report a party

To report a public party's description for violating the Stadia code of conduct:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select Parties Select the party you want to report.
3. Select More Report party description.

To report a party you've joined, select View party in the social menu, then perform step 3 above.

Types of Stadia voice chat

You'll get a notification on your screen whenever voice chat is available. The notification will include the status of your microphone or headset. Stadia supports the following voice chat options:

Type of chat	Features
Party chat	Talk with other party members while you play the same game or across different games
Game chat	Talk with other players in the same game if in-game chat is supported

Device support for voice chat

• The built-in microphones on the Stadia Controller, as well as the built-in microphone on your mobile device, are not used for voice chat. You won't get popup notifications about the status of these microphones in the Stadia app . However, you can adjust audio options in the Options menu under "Audio".
• On TVs and streaming devices, you can listen to party chat and game audio over your headset, but Bluetooth® microphones can't be used to speak to other players. Learn how to use Bluetooth devices with Google TV.

Switch between party and game chat

When you join or create a party, you'll be switched automatically to party chat. While you're playing a game, you can switch between game and party chat:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
   • On a third-party controller, press the Home button.
2. Select View Party Options .
3. Under "Audio Options" "Who you're speaking to", select:
   • Game chat: Chat with other players in supported multiplayer games.
   • Party chat: Chat with your current party.
   • None right now: Exit voice chat.

Find the voice chat status of party members

While you're in a party chat, find the voice chat status next to your Stadia name:

• Mic On: You are speaking to the party.
• Muted: You have muted yourself.
• No Mic: You do not have an available microphone.
• Disconnected: You are disconnected from the party chat.

The status of other party members appears next to their names:

• On: The player is speaking to the party.
• Off: The player is not speaking to the party.
• Muted: The player is muted.

If you get disconnected from party chat, unplug and replug your headset back in. If that doesn't work, try to switch the "Who you're speaking to" selector in your "Party settings" menu to None right now and then back to Party chat.

Voice chat options during a live stream

When you live stream directly from Stadia to YouTube, you can only change voice chat options in the live stream options menu. Just press the Stadia button (or Shift + Tab on your computer keyboard) select Manage stream Options .

Type of live stream chat	Features
YouTube & game chat	Your live stream viewers and other players in game chat will be able to hear you.
YouTube only	Only your live stream viewers will be able to hear you. If you're in a game chat or party chat, its members won't be able to hear you, and you won't be able to hear them.
Party chat only	No voices will be live streamed. You'll only hear your party chat, and only your party chat members will be able to hear you.
No one	No voices will be live streamed. Players in your game and party won't be able to hear you, and you won't hear them either.

If you select Party chat only, you'll remain in your party chat after your stream ends. However, unless you select YouTube & game chat and your microphone is not muted, you'll need to rejoin your game chat after your stream ends. To do this, press the Stadia button (or Shift + Tab on your computer keyboard) select Options.

Note: You can mute your microphone in the Manage stream menu while you stream directly to YouTube. Just select Manage stream click the microphone icon next to your Stadia Name. When you mute your voice, it won't be heard on your YouTube livestream, voice chat, or party chat, depending on the chat preference you set.

Change live stream audio options

When you change voice chat options while you stream directly from Stadia to YouTube, it might affect who can hear your voice. For example, if you switch from Party chat only to YouTube & game chat, you'll no longer be able to speak to (or be heard by) your party.

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