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Roblox shuts down Connect video chat
Roblox has discontinued Roblox Connect, its avatar-based video calling feature launched in 2023, as users shifted to Party Voice.
Image: The Verge
Roblox has shut down Roblox Connect, the company’s avatar-based video calling service introduced in 2023.
Connect let users video chat through their Roblox avatars, which could mimic real-world movements. People on a call could also move around together inside a shared virtual environment.
The company said the feature is being retired because users 13 and older mainly use Party Voice, Roblox’s newer private voice chat system, for calls instead.
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“Roblox Connect is being discontinued today, including both the developer-facing APIs and the Roblox Connect feature itself. Users 13 and up predominantly use our more recent Party Voice feature instead to make private voice calls with Trusted Friends on Roblox.”
Roblox had already signaled the shift last month when it announced the shutdown of Connect’s APIs. In that post, a Roblox staffer said Party Voice handles private voice chat “in a way that’s more capable and better suited to how players use Roblox today.”
To use Party Voice, a user’s age must be verified by Roblox as 13 or older.
When Roblox first unveiled Connect, it said it planned to open source the feature. The Verge reported that it could not confirm whether that ever happened and asked the company for details.
Culture Editor
Maya explores gaming, streaming, and the internet as a place where people actually live. From deep-dives into creator economies to the anthropology of digital communities, she tracks platform drama and cultural shifts so you don't have to. She believes the best tech stories are fundamentally about human behavior.
via The Verge
