Voice chat without the faff: in-game, console party or a separate app?

The three options

Option	Best when	Watch out for
In-game voice	Everyone is on different systems and the game supports cross-play voice	Quality varies; public lobbies may include strangers; often no per-person volume
Console party (PlayStation or Xbox)	Everyone is on the same console family	PC and Switch players are left out unless the console app on their phone is used
Separate app on a phone or PC	Mixed platforms, regular groups, long sessions	Needs a phone or a second device on a console; two audio sources to balance

For a mixed group, use a separate app

If your group has a PlayStation, an Xbox and a PC in it, the only voice channel that reaches everyone reliably is one that does not belong to any platform. Console players can join from a phone app with earphones in, or from the console’s own version where one exists. It is one more thing to set up, but it works every week regardless of which game you pick, and it keeps talking after someone quits the game.

Push-to-talk is worth the habit

Open microphones pick up kettles, dogs, doorbells and the other person in the room. Push-to-talk feels awkward for one evening and then becomes invisible, and it makes the group sound like people who like each other. On a controller, bind it to a button you never use in menus; on a keyboard, a side mouse button or a thumb key.

Keep strangers out

Most games put you in voice with whoever fills the empty seats in your party. If you are three and the game fills the fourth, that person can hear you. Either fill the party with friends, set the party to private or invite-only, or turn off voice for non-friends where the game allows it. Every check on this site mentions whether strangers can be kept out of the lobby.

One rule that saves friendships

Agree, before anyone is annoyed, that nobody gives instructions to a beginner during a fight. Save it for the loading screen. It is the difference between an evening that feels like a hobby and one that feels like work.

Written by the Lobby Night desk. Checked September 2026. Corrections: contact the desk.