Parties and voice chat

Parties

With parties, you can invite players to voice chat and play games together. You can send and manage party invites from the Stadia menu or the Friends menu. Parties are available on your TV and stadia.com, and will be coming soon on mobile devices.

Read below to learn how to send and manage party invites on Stadia.

Tip: To learn how to send and manage game invites, go to our Inviting to a game and local multiplayer article.

Start a party

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on your computer keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select Start a party. This will automatically create a party voice chat and add you to it.

  3. Go to the “Invite another player to a party” section below for steps on how to send a party invite to another player.

Invite another player to a party

There are several ways to invite a player to your created party. You can use the party invite page, a player’s profile or send the party link URL from stadia.com. Inviting others to your party will add them to the party chat and allow them to communicate with you using a microphone.

Invite through a player's profile

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Find and select the players you want to invite.

    • Scroll through your friends list or “recently played with” list.

    • SearchSearch icon a player’s name on stadia.com.

  3. Once you’ve moved your selection over the player you want to invite, you can do one of the following:

    • Press X on your Stadia Controller to invite to party (Chromecast only).

    • Select the player, then select Invite to party.

Note: If you have not yet started a party, selecting Invite to party on a player’s profile will also start one and invite that player.

Invite with the party invite page

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select View party.

  3. Select Invite. 

  4. Select all of the players from your list that you want to invite.

  5. Select Invite to send all of your invites at once. 

Invite with the party link

When accessing your party on stadia.com, you can also copy a URL link for your friends to join you. 

  1. To begin, while in party, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select View Party.

  3. Select Party invite link to copy the party link, and paste it wherever you want friends to join you.

Set a new party leader

If you start a party, you are the leader. To set a new leader, you must be the current leader of the party. Only players who have accepted the party invite can be set as the new leader.

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select View party.

  3. Under In party, select the player you want to set as the new leader.

  4. On their profile, choose Set as party leader.

Remove a player from party

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select View party.

  3. Under In party, select the player you want to remove.

  4. On their profile, choose Remove from party.

Invite your party to a game

  1. As party leader, open a game, then do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on your keyboard.

  2. Select View party.

  3. Select Invite to game.

Players who are currently in the party will receive a game invite. Anyone who joins the party later will still be able to accept the game invite through the party screen. 

To send a new batch of game invites to the party as the party leader, select Remove game. You may then repeat the steps above.

Manage party invites you receive

Party invites show up as notifications. They will appear on your screen as pop ups, but don’t worry about missing them. See your notifications anytime in the Friends menu or the Stadia menu while in a game.

If you’ve received a party invite and it’s the only notification you have, follow the directions below to join:

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the StadiaStadia icon button on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on the keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select the party invite directly.

  3. Choose Join or Decline to act on the invite. If you choose to do nothing, the party invite will remain in your menu.

If you have more than one notification, follow the directions below to navigate to your party invites:

  1. To begin, do one of the following:

    • Press the The StadiaStadia icon on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on your computer keyboard.

    • Select friendsFriends icon on stadia.com.

  2. Select the Notifications section to see your invites.

  3. Under Party invites, select the party invite you want to manage.

  4. Choose Join or Decline to act on the invite. If you choose to do nothing, the party invite will remain in your notifications.

Note: If you’re already in a party, you have the option to Switch party. If you accept the new invite, you will leave your current party. You may only be in one party at a time. 

Privacy and blocked players

In the Friends & privacy settings, you can limit Who can send you invites to the following:

  • Friends

  • Friends & their friends

  • No one

Read our privacy settings article to learn more.

Players you have blocked won’t be able to invite you to parties.

Blocked players may still show up in parties you have been invited to. However, they won’t be able to hear you if you use the microphone to voice chat.

To learn more, read our Blocking players article.

Voice chats

Stadia supports two options for voice chat: party chat and game chat. Games that support game chat will allow you to participate in voice chat with other players in the game space. You can create a party to use party voice chat to talk with friends in the same or different games.

Stadia notifies you whenever a voice chat is created and tells you the status for your microphone or headset. The microphone that is built in to your Stadia Controller is never used for voice chat.

Note: On mobile devices, you can’t speak in voice chat, only hear others in the voice chat. Because your microphone is never active on mobile devices, you may not see notifications of your microphone status in the Stadia app, but this information is available in the Audio menu. Microphone status notifications will appear in the Stadia app when voice chat on mobile devices becomes available.

Switching between voice chats

Stadia will automatically switch you into the party chat if you join or create a party. If you would like to manually switch channels at any time, you can do so with the Who you’re speaking to selector.

You can find the selector in the following places:

  • The Audio options section of the Stadia menu while playing a game

  • The Settings section of the party

There are three options in the selector:

  • None: This is the default when the player is not in a party or game chat. You can switch to this option at any time if you wish to leave a voice channel.

  • Game Chat: This is available when you play a game that supports multiplayer game chat.

  • Party Chat: This is available when you’re in a party.

Party player states

While in a Party, your player state will appear next to your Stadia name. There are four possible states:

  • 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.

Note: If you are disconnected from the party chat, you can try unplugging and replugging in your headset to reconnect. Additionally, you could try switching the Who are you speaking to selector in party settings — switch to “None” and then back to “Party Chat."

The other party member’s player states are:

  • On: They are speaking to the party.

  • Off: They are not speaking to the party.

  • Muted: They are muted.

Muting

While in a Party, you have the option to mute yourself and others. If you mute another player, they are only muted for you, not the whole party chat. If you mute yourself, no one can hear you.

Volume

  1. Open the Stadia menu.

    • Press the The Stadia Stadia icon on your Stadia Controller.

    • Press SHIFT + TAB on your computer keyboard.

  2. Go to Audio or Party settings.

  3. Under “Voice chat volume,” slide the toggle left or right to decrease or increase the volume of the voice chat. This will affect any voice chat you are in.

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