Top 12 gaming chat apps to consider in 2021 

Many gaming chat apps gained massive popularity in 2020 as people turned to play games amidst the pandemic. Additionally, the average weekly downloads of gaming applications hit a whopping 1.2 billion in March. 

However, this surge in popularity will not cease anytime soon as high-speed internet connectivity, quality microphones, and cameras enable the new-generation gamers to elevate their gaming experience. Who wouldn’t use an application that allows the users to communicate with their friends and plan strategies to win against their opponents?

This increase in demand has attracted many budding entrepreneurs who wish to venture into the gaming industry. If you’re interested in making a mobile gaming application, then this blog post is for you!

This article will discuss various gaming chat apps that will help you get insights into the billion-dollar gaming industry and how these applications work. 

But before we begin with the list, let’s have a quick look at the types of gaming applications available today.

Types of gaming chat apps 

Mobile games earlier were unexciting and less fun to play. It had less entertainment value and no feature to facilitate interaction between players. Thankfully, that is not the case now, as the gaming experience has changed drastically in recent years with gaming chat apps. 

Features such as real-time text and voice chat have completely revolutionized gaming applications. The gamers can communicate with each other, compare scores, and plan strategies to win the game against their opponents. As a result, this helps develop gaming relationships and introduces the participants to the concept of teamwork within the game. Sounds fun, right?

Based on the given features, gaming chat apps can be categorized into the following three types: 

1. Social chat apps with integrated games

Such applications mainly offer users a platform to communicate via chat and voice/video calling features. Besides, they provide interactive games within the app itself. Therefore, users of such apps can interact with their friends and play games simultaneously to make conversations more fun.

Moreover, due to its increasing popularity and potential to scale up chat applications, many chat apps have switched to gaming chat apps to provide this 2-in-1 feature to its users. 

2. Gaming apps with in-built chat features

Contrary to the previous category, these gaming chat apps are for hard-core gamers. They offer gaming as a primary feature and communication as an additional one. In other words, such applications are gaming platforms that allow its users to chat (via text, voice, or video) with other gamers in real-time. 

The gamer community loves this type of gaming apps. Moreover, every company looking forward to venturing into gaming apps in 2021 should consider adding these features. 

3. Social chat apps to discuss games

These gaming chat apps are slightly different than the categories mentioned above. In some cases, gamers do not like the in-built chat feature in gaming apps. As a result, they switch to chat-based applications to discuss their games and plan their strategies to defeat their gaming enemies.  

Now that we know the three types of gaming apps, let’s move onto the list of best gaming chat apps to use and take inspiration from in 2021.

Top 12 gaming chat apps

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase of 115% in the usage of gaming chat apps. Due to this surge in popularity, many such applications offered entertaining games and innovative chat solutions to its users. Here’s the list of the top gaming chat apps category-wise.

Social chat apps with integrated games 

1. Houseparty

Houseparty was founded in 2016 and is a video-calling application that offers inbuilt games such as Pictionary, Heads Up, Ellen DeGeneres, etc. Consequently, users can play these games while being on a video call with their friends. Its user base is mainly teenagers and young adults who use this gaming chat app in their free time. 

Although the application is free to download, it does have some in-app purchases. For instance, the first three games of Heads Up are free, and $0.99 per game is charged from the fourth game onward. However, the core function of the video chat feature remains open for all.

2. Facebook Gaming

Facebook Gaming was intended to launch in June but got released in April 2020 on Android and iOS platforms after seeing the increase in demand for gaming apps. 

It has a newsfeed like the regular Facebook app and separate tabs for games, messages, and discovering live streams. Moreover, it allows its users to participate in online games and stream their gaming experience.

3. Hike

Hike Messenger is a messaging app that offers much more than just texting and calling. The users can use various features such as Hike Stickers, Hike Run, Hidden Mode, etc. Likewise, Hike offers five gaming features as well, namely Sudoku, Chess, World Rush, Solitaire, and Snake, which are labeled under the tab ‘Games’. Moreover, Hike claims that the app users spend 20 minutes a day playing these games on average.

4. Telegram

With approximately 200 million active users worldwide (as of October 2020), Telegram is a popular chat application. Moreover, its features and flexibility are one of its kind. For instance, it allows you to create and manage groups of up to 200,000 members. Additionally, it includes in-built quiz modes and polling features that help make the chats more engaging and attractive.

If you wish to play games with your friends on this application, all you need to do is type @gamebot on the search field and select the option. Consequently, the bot will offer you three fun games to play with your friends. 

Do you wish to make a mobile gaming application? Contact our game development experts today and be the next market leader in the gaming industry!

Gaming apps with in-built chat features

1. Fortnite

Fortnite is an online multiplayer video game that was released in 2017 by Epic Games. In this player-versus-player combat, 100 players fight against each other to be the last survivor. Moreover, it is an action-packed game that involves strategic thinking in order to be the last one standing. 

This gaming chat app offers live and unmoderated chat functionality between users – both on-screen text and voice chat. In addition to this, Fortnite has decided to add a new video chat feature where players can see their friends’ live feeds. This feature will be powered by Houseparty.

2. Call Of Duty

Call Of Duty is a free-to-download application that is available to both Android and iOS users. It started in 2003, and the initial games mainly focused on a World War II game set. However, it has now evolved its game sets to outer space, futuristic world, etc.

It is a multiplayer game that allows users to play as iconic characters and battle out human opponents. Moreover, apart from the text chat, it offers a live voice-chat feature that enables users to converse and plan strategies to win the game while playing.

3. PUBG

PlayerUnknown’s Battleground or PUBG is a battle royale game where the players are supposed to hunt for clothes, weapons, and medicinal aids and battle out the other players who are doing the same.

PUBG offers various chat features, including text chat, live voice chat, and proximity voice chat. The proximity feature allows its users to speak to other players in real-time as long as they are close to the battlefield.

4. Ludo King

Ludo King’s user base surged during the pandemic and is one of the best multiplayer gaming chat apps available today. It is an online board game that one can play with their friends and family members. Moreover, it is available across various platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone platforms, and Kindle. 

Apart from that, it had text-chat for quite some time but has recently launched a voice-chat feature too. This enables its users to chat with other players seamlessly. However, the video-chat feature is still unavailable, and perhaps one can be on the lookout for such an update. 

Social chat apps to discuss games

1. Discord

According to the numbers in June 2002, Discord has 100 million active monthly users and is one of the best gaming chat apps. The users can download the application or use the desktop version to chat with their friends via text, voice, or video. Besides, users who wish to play multiplayer games with their group of friends can create a server, add the members, and communicate with them while playing the game.

Many people who play games like Among Us or don’t like the in-built chat feature of games like Fornite and PUBG use Discord to chat with friends.

2. TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak is a great alternative to gaming chat apps like Discord due to its additional features. It offers military-grade encryption, unlimited sub-channels, direct messaging, file transfer, etc. Gamers all around the world use this app to play popular games such as League of Legends, Truth or Dare?, etc.

3. Mumble

Mumble is one of the best voice chat apps available today. It offers low-latency and a high-quality voice chat feature, which means that you will experience minimum lag while chatting. Therefore, gamers should give this chat app a try while playing.

4. Element

Gamers have begun using Element off-late to communicate with other players. It is an open-source application that offers voice and video chat. Besides, it is extra secure as it provides end-to-end encryption.

Conclusion

If you wish to make a similar mobile gaming application, keep the features of the applications mentioned above in mind and get started.

Besides, making a gaming application like Fortnite and PUBG, or a gaming chat application like Discord and Mumble can be rewarding. Still, it is impossible without having experience in the gaming industry. Contact our game development experts today and be the next market leader in the gaming industry!

Frequently asked questions

Here are some interesting FAQs about gaming chat apps.

1. What is the best chat app for gamers?

There are many apps that gamers can use to chat with their fellow players. Some of the apps include Discord, TeamSpeak, Element and Mumble.

2. What game apps can you chat on?

Many game apps like Fortnite, Call Of Duty, PUBG, Ludo King, etc. offer in-built chat features that allow players to communicate with each other while playing the game.

3. Is TeamSpeak better than Discord?

Both TeamSpeak and Discord have their own pros and cons. TeamSpeak may be better than Discord in terms of some features, while Discord may be better in case of others. You must research and compare the features that are important to you, and then make a decision about which app is better.