Parties and voice chat

Parties let you invite players to voice chat so you can coordinate playing games together, even when you aren't currently in a game. You can invite your party members to join you in a game, and then communicate with each other while playing.

Parties are available on your TV and on stadia.com, and will be coming soon to supported mobile devices.

You can also invite other players to join specific games with online multiplayer modes.

Start a party

You can start a party on Stadia even if you aren't playing a game. After you create a party, you'll become the party leader automatically.

On a TV using Chromecast

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
3. Select Start a party.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account at stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Start a party.

Invite other players to your party

After you create a party, you can invite friends or people you've played with recently. If other players accept your invitation, they'll be added to the party chat and will be able to communicate with you using a microphone.

To invite other players to a party:

On a TV using Chromecast

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
3. Select Friends .
4. Select the player you want to invite.
5. Select Invite to party.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Friends .
   • Select the player you want to invite.
4. On stadia.com, you can find other players using Search .
5. Select Invite to party.

Note: If you haven't started a party yet, inviting other players will create one automatically.

Invite more than one player at a time

After you start a party, you can invite more than one player to it at the same time:

On a TV using Chromecast

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
3. Select Start a party.
4. On your Stadia Controller, press .
5. Select View party Invite.
6. Choose the players you want to invite to the party.
7. Select Invite.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select Start a party.
4. Select Back View Party Invite.
5. Choose the players you want to invite to the party.
6. Select Invite.

Invite your friends with a party link

On stadia.com, you can copy a link to send to your friends so they can easily join your party:

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

After you see the words "Link copied", you can paste the link wherever your friends can find it.

Invite your party to a specific game

When you're the party leader, you can invite the members of your party to a game you're playing:

On a TV using Chromecast

1. Start the game you want to invite your party to.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
3. Select View party Invite to game.

On stadia.com

1. Start the game you want to invite your party to.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On your computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
3. Select View party Invite to game.

All the members of your party will receive a game invite. Anyone who joins the party later can also accept the game invite on the party screen.

To send more game invites to the party, select Remove game and repeat the steps above.

Make changes to the party

After you create a party, you can change the voice chat volume, mute or remove players, or set a new party leader.

Change the party chat volume

Changing the party chat volume will affect any voice chat you're in. To change the volume:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select View Party Settings .
3. Under "Voice chat volume", slide the toggle left or right to decrease or increase the volume.

Mute a player

You can mute any member of your party, including yourself. If you mute another player, they are only muted for you, not the whole party. If you mute yourself, no one in the party will be able to hear you.

Remove a player from your party

If you're the party leader, you can remove players from your party whether you're playing a game or not:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select Friends View party.
3. Under "In party", select the player you want to remove.
4. Select Remove from party.

Set a new party leader

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

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select View party.
3. Under "In party", select the player you want to set as the new leader.
4. Choose Set as party leader.

Manage your 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 notification, you can still view the invite:

On a TV using Chromecast

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, select Shift + Tab.
   • If you have more than one invitation, select Notifications.
2. Select the party invitation.
3. Choose Join or Decline.

On stadia.com

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select Friends .
   • If you have multiple invitations, select Notifications.
3. Select the party invitation.
4. Choose Join or Decline.

Note: You can only be in one party at a time. If you're already in a party when you get an invitation, you'll have the option to Switch party. If you accept the new invite, you'll leave your current party and join the new one.

Party invitations will remain in your menu until you choose Join or Decline.

Change who can send you party invites

In your Friends & privacy settings, select one of the following options under "Who can send you invites":

• Friends
• Friends & their friends
• No one

Types of Stadia voice chat

Stadia will notify you whenever voice chat is available. You'll also see 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 playing the same game or across different games
Game chat	Talk with other players in the same game if in-game chat is supported

The built-in microphone on your Stadia Controller is not used for voice chat. Currently, the microphone on your mobile device also cannot be used for voice chat, so popup notifications about your microphone status will not appear in the Stadia app, but some audio options will appear in your Options menu under "Audio".

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 .
   • If you're using a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
2. Select View Party Settings.
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.

See the voice chat status of other party members

While you're in a party chat, your player state will appear 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 will also appear 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, try to unplug and replug your headset back in. You can also 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'll only be able to 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. Muting will prevent your voice from being heard on your YouTube livestream, voice chat, or party chat, depending on your chat preference.

Changing live stream audio options

When you change voice chat options while streaming directly from Stadia to YouTube, it may 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.