Activision has acknowledged the Call of Duty Warzone party chat bug

Call of Duty Warzone blood money — (Image credit: Activision)

Update: Activision is aware of the audio issue with party chat in Call of Duty Warzone and says they're currently working on a fix. No further information was provided, but players are being asked to "stay tuned for future patch notes." Here's the tweet from Activision Support acknowledging the bug:

Hey Corey! The team is aware of the chat issue and working to get it resolved! Please just hang in there for now and stay tuned to future patch notes for updates. ^GLApril 30, 2020

The latest Call of Duty Warzone update seems to have caused a borderline game-breaking audio issue in party chat.

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According to reports on Reddit and Twitter, the in-game party chat function works as it should in the lobby and for the first few minutes of play. Then, for reasons that still aren't clear, audio cuts out entirely. Obviously, that makes it rather challenging for teams to communicate and execute a successful strategy. As of yet, it doesn't sound like there's a clear and widely-available fix for the problem.

The latest update from a Reddit thread calling attention to the issue says there's an open ticket at Infinity Ward waiting to be resolved. Apparently - and keep in mind, this is all anecdotal and probably not entirely comprehensive - the issue seems to be prompted by loadout drops, dying, reviving, and possibly picking up contracts.

Reports from different players experiencing the apparent bug vary slightly - some say it affects the entire team while others are reporting the issue only affects a part of the team's audio. Likewise, the effectiveness of reported fixes isn't consistent.

Some have reported success switching the audio settings to mute everyone except for friends. I've also heard defaulting all in-game settings and restarting the system has worked for players, although that one could be pretty cumbersome for people who like to fine-tune their settings.

It sounds like the issue started with this week's Warzone update, as players began noticing the bug just after the update went live on Wednesday. Hopefully, Infinity Ward will have that patched out and weekend squads can reunite without interruptions to party chat.

Spend less time in the Gulag by reading through our most essential Call of Duty Warzone tips.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.