Parties and voice chat

Parties let you invite players to voice chat to coordinate playing games together, even when you aren't currently in a game. You can invite party members to join you in a game, then connect a microphone to your Stadia Controller (or computer) to communicate with each other while you play.

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 join games that have online multiplayer modes.

When playing Stadia on Google TV or Android TV, you'll be able to hear party chat and game audio over your headset, but you won't be able to use a Bluetooth microphone to speak in voice chat.

Get more information about using Bluetooth devices with Google TV.

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

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth® controller.
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 .
   • On 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 can connect a microphone to their computer or Stadia Controller to communicate with you.

To invite other players to a party:

On a TV

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
3. Under "Friends", select the player you want to invite.
   • Above your friends list, select Friends to find people you played with recently.
4. Select Invite to party.

On stadia.com

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. Under "Friends", select the player you want to invite.
   • Select Add friend above your friends list to find people you played with recently or to search for a player.
4. Select Invite to party.

Note: If you haven't started a party yet, one will be created automatically when you invite other players.

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

1. Sign into your Stadia account on your TV.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
3. Select Start a party.
4. On your Stadia Controller, press to go back to the main menu.
   • If you use a Bluetooth controller with Google TV or Android TV, press the face button equivalent of .
5. Select View party Invite.
6. Select the players you want to invite to the party.
7. At the top, select Invite.

On stadia.com

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 Start a party.
4. Select Back View Party Invite.
5. Next to each player you want to invite, click Invite .

Invite your friends to a party with a 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 Copy invite link.

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

Invite your party to a game

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

On a TV

1. Launch the game you want to invite your party to.
2. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
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. Any member of the party can also accept the game invite on the party menu to join the game later.

To send more game invites to the party, select Remove game (on stadia.com) or Remove party game (on your TV) 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

When you change the party chat volume, any voice chat you're in is affected. To change the volume:

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
2. Select View Party select the gear icon.
   • On a TV, select Settings .
   • On stadia.com, click Options .
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 .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
2. Select View party.
3. Under "In party", select the player you want to remove.
4. Remove the player from the party.
   • On a TV, select Remove.
   • On stadia.com, 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.
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
2. Select View party.
3. Under "In party", select the player you want to set as the new leader.
4. Choose the new party leader.
   • On a TV, select Set as leader.
   • On stadia.com, select 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 go to the invite:

On a TV

1. On your Stadia Controller, press the Stadia button .
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
2. Select the party invitation.
   • If you have more than one invitation, select Notifications first.
3. Choose Dismiss or Join.

On stadia.com

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

Note: You can only be in one party at a time. 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.

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

Change who can send you party invites

In your Privacy settings, under "Who can send you voice chat and party invites", select one of the following options:

• All players
• Friends
• Friends & their friends
• Private (or No one)

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

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 you won't get popup notifications about your microphone status in the Stadia app . However, you can adjust audio options 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 .
   • On a computer keyboard, press Shift + Tab.
   • On Google TV or Android TV, you can press the Home button on a connected Bluetooth controller.
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 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.

BLUETOOTH is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.