Since the release of the PlayStation 4 in 2013, PS4 party chat has supported a maximum of eight players at once. While this has likely been sufficient for many players, there are certainly others that would love to see this maximum PS4 party chat limit raised. Fortunately for these Sony fans, a new PS4 party feature, which will be available first through a preview program, looks to do just that.

As announced by Sony today, players can now signup for the chance to participate in a new preview program as a PS4 Software Beta tester. If accepted into the preview program, players will gain access to an update to PS4 parties. Perhaps the most notable aspect of this update is an increase in the supported number of PS4 party participants, from eight to 16.

Indeed, participants in this new PS4 preview program will be able to form parties that are twice the size of what is currently supported, but they will only be able to do so with others that have also been accepted into the program. That said, the preview codes that Sony will be providing for the program can be used by 20 different accounts, which means that accepted players can simply share codes with friends and family.

Additionally, the update to PS4 parties is said to improve "audio quality for voice chat" and "network connectivity."  It seems then that Sony's interest is not only in increasing PS4 party chat size, but also making the PS4 party experience better overall.

ps4 party chat preview program

Finally, testers based in the United States will also get early access to a chat transcription feature, which will use PS4 parties and the PS4 Second Screen app to convert voice chat into text. This chat transcription will be available on the Second Screen app, and players can also have text that they have entered into the PS4 app read aloud to those in the party. To note, the PS4 chat transcription feature will only be available in English and in the US.

While many players are excitedly awaiting more details on the highly anticipated PS5, Sony is continually improving the PS4 experience. Hopefully, a very solid foundation will be established by the time the PS5 release date arrives.

Source: Sony