PS4 Chat 8 Players

Earlier this month gamers discovered that the PS4 would not support USB or Bluetooth headsets at launch. Although the console would ship with its own proprietary chat headset, all third-party options would have to wait in the wings until Sony released an update.

Regardless of the disappointing news about headset support, there is a silver lining: the PS4 will offer party chat to all users, not just PlayStation Plus subscribers. And today we have learned just how many gamers can participate in a party chat at once.

As revealed by Sony's Social Media Manager Sid Shuman, the PS4's Party Voice Chat feature will support up to 8 players. For comparison, that's the same number of players that the PS Vita can support for party chat.

It's also important to mention that party chat on the PS4 is cross-game chat like it is on the Xbox 360, and presumably will be on the Xbox One. So, even if 8 different gamers are all playing 8 different games, they can still chat with each other.

The question regarding party chat was asked in conjunction with a Killzone: Shadow Fall Q&A meant to give fans of the franchise an open forum through which to better understand developer Guerrilla Games' design decisions. And, as it turned out, the Q&A then became an open forum for PS4 questions.

Although there are several multiplatform multiplayer titles slated to launch alongside the PS4, Killzone: Shadow Fall is presumably the biggest platform exclusive for Sony. Party chat isn't necessarily a concern considering for all Killzone players, as the title will have its own in-game chat for multiplayer. But those who want to strategize without having to listen to teammates slinging epithets every few seconds will have that option.

However, one has to wonder why the PS4 only offers support for 8 players through party chat and not more. That isn't to say there will be that many instances where gamers need more than 8, but if the Vita can already support 8 players shouldn't the PS4 be capable of more?

Do you think that the PS4 should support more than 8 players for party chat? Do you typically use the party chat feature when gaming?

Sony's PS4 releases November 22, 2013 in North America.

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Source: PlayStation Blog