Big Walk treats communication as a mechanic. Voice and text chat obey distance falloff and environmental muffling, and separated players sound crackly over the walkie-talkie — external apps like Discord bypass all of this.
What the build and official sources show
- Proximity voice is on by default, with volume fading as distance grows.
- Environmental muffling changes how voices sound inside structures, valleys and open terrain.
- Walkie-talkie crackle takes over when players are far apart, matching the in-game item.
- Text chat follows the same distance and environmental restrictions as voice.
Why the developers want in-game chat
House House designed Big Walk so that staying close and keeping in touch is part of the gameplay. External voice apps remove the challenge of coordination and the charm of shouting across a valley.
For large groups (10+ players), some launch-week parties reported audio desync — a known issue the developers acknowledged with a patch expected.