Battlefield 2042 finally gets voice chat – a whole five months after launch

Battlefield 2042’s major 4.0 update is live, introducing over 400 bug fixes and gameplay rebalances, as well as new features that fans have been calling for since the multiplayer shooter launched last November.

Chief among them is in-game voice chat – or VoIP functionality, as it’s officially called. You’ll now be able to chat with the players in your Battlefield 2042 party or squad using a microphone. Previously, voice chat was totally absent from the game, requiring you to use in-game text chat or map pings to communicate with your fellow players. If you wanted to speak live, you’d have to use Discord, TeamSpeak, join a party on PlayStation or Xbox consoles, or use another third-party platform.

This new voice chat system looks similar to those of past Battlefield games. To activate and adjust the feature, head to Options > Sound/Voice > Chat through the main menu.

The absence of voice chat from Battlefield 2042 has been a sticking point for disappointed fans of the game. The feature has been a staple of past Battlefield releases, allowing players to coordinate attacks and plan tactics with multipayer squadmates. It’s also a staple feature of most modern multiplayer shooters, and many were surprised by its absence on the game’s release.

(Image credit: EA)

Heaps of changes

Update 4.0 also introduces a bunch of other features, gameplay tweaks, and bug fixes to the beleaguered game. Weapon attachments have been overhauled to make them more distinct, and its recently revamped scoreboard will now be available to view at the end of each round, rather than just mid-match.

Improvements have also been made to matchmaking, progression, unlocks, maps, audio, Portal mode, animations, and enemy AI. The topline features include:

• A fix for a bug that would reset players’ saved customizations after joining a server
• Collisions, floating items, and unintended transparent segments of maps have been resolved
• A matchmaking bug that would loop players back to the lobby has been fixed
• Kill Assists are triggered more easily
• Balance adjustments to Specialists

The full list of changes – which is very long – can be read in full in the Update 4.0 patch notes. They suggest the next Battlefield 2042 update is due to release in May and will focus on further quality-of-life updates and bug fixes.

For many players, those changes can’t come soon enough. Players have been frustrated after persistent glitches and absent features have plagued the multiplayer shooter for the last five months. While Dice has committed to fixing these problems and delayed the game’s first season of content to do so, the rate at which updates have been rolled out hasn’t alleviated the ire of many fans, and the recently announced map changes left many disappointed. 

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