Riot Games adds team voice chat to League of Legends after 17 years

Team Voice Chat Implementation

Riot Games has integrated team-wide voice chat into League of Legends, a feature absent since the game's release 17 years ago. Previously, voice communication was only available for pre-made groups. The new functionality allows all players matched onto a team to communicate vocally during a game.

Regional Rollout and Moderation

The team voice chat is initially launching with Patch 26.20 in North America and Oceania. Riot Games plans to expand to other regions, including Korea, Latin America, and Brazil, based on the success of this initial rollout. To address potential moderation concerns, players must have an Honor level of 3 or higher to speak, while others can only listen. The company intends to refine this system to better reflect in-game behavior.

New Audio Features

Alongside team voice chat, Riot Games is introducing "voice skins," which allow players to modify their voice during chat. The company states these effects will remain clear during gameplay. The patch also includes enhancements such as improved noise cancellation, faster connection speeds, and increased stability for the voice communication system.

Community Reception and Future Plans

The League of Legends community has reacted with cautious optimism to the voice chat announcement, with users expressing a willingness to see how the feature impacts gameplay. Separately, Riot Games announced that the next phase for League of Legends will focus on music, with the first music-related reveal scheduled for tomorrow.