Rumor: The PS4 Camera Automatically Broadcasts In-Game Chat

PS4 users are reporting that the PS Camera automatically broadcasts in-game chat. It's reported that a Sony rep has confirmed this, but there's no tangible proof at this point.

[nevin1]

Spying?

[us_army]

seriously... He was playing an online match, where most games automatically will use voice chat if a mic is detected. You can either disable chat in said game, or just unplug the camera.... It isnt required to play

[Mr_cheese]

Down vote the article and the site, that's all we need to do. N4G is getting a bit lapse lately.

[Narutone66]

The website is igameresponsibly.com, should be changed to ireportfud.com.

[GuyThatPlaysGames]

@Mr_cheese Lately? You mean for the past few years right?

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

Why down vote the website? Because it said something bad about your precious PS4?

[Kaneda]

Sony fanboys, are you sure your PSeye camera is not on? Shuhei Yoshida is watching you.. muuuhhahahahahahaaa.

unplug it! Welcome to next gen!

[Dee_91]

the cam for ps3 did the same thing... you could disable it though.These so called "journalist" should do their research.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@nevin

Sounds like it, but we don't know if this is 100% true though.

[Thatguy-310]

It's true since the camera is detected the mic automatically works when you enter an online match. You could go to the settings and disable it to avoid it from making it the default mic. Don't know how this is news worthy since the ps3 did the same thing when the ps eye was connected.

[PoSTedUP]

yeah i was gonna say, my ps3 Eye was my mic and when it read my bluetooth it would automatically switch.

you think i should test it out for you guys? like make some threats over voice chat and see if the feds show up?? : D?

[Drekken]

WOAH WAIT A MINUTE! Are you telling me that having an open mic plugged into your system will automatically broadcast your voice in chat?

Nothing to see here people, just over reactors. Move along.

[Utalkin2me]

If the PS4 doesn't recognize a mic then it was default use the Eye as a mic unless you disable it in the settings. People and grasping at straws...lol

[n4gusername]

I could not find a way to just disable in the settings. I was with support on another issue and they told me to unplug it to turn it off.

[THamm]

Umm Kinect does the same as well

[Drekken]

Why aren't accounts like edonus just banned on spot? Why must we be subjected to gutter wit like "brickstation"? Lets clean up the trash.

[Brix90]

I have a Kinect does the same shit nothing new...I just unplug PS camera when not using it simple solution.

[Kryptix]

@Drekken

I don't think the mods ever look at the comments cause edonus would of been banned a long time ago for trolling.

THamm is actually correct, the Kinect does the same thing. If a headset isn't plugged in, the console automatically uses the camera for online chatting unless unplugged or turned off.

[MarkusMcNugen]

@Drekken

Wouldnt the same rule then be applied to people who call the Xbox One the Xbone?

[Biggest]

Xbox + One = Xbone. How did you come to the conclusion that the abbreviation is negative?

[bigboi212]

Kinect has to be turned on in settings as chat mic. It is not the default.

[Kryptix]

@bigboi

My bad for the mistake...thought it would always be on as a mic since it was set to always listen for commands and words originally. Talking about Kinect 2.0.

[Pro_TactX]

@Biggest

Come on now, you know that "Xbone" is intended to be derogatory. If people simply wanted to use an abbreviation it would be less keystrokes to use "XB1", or "XBO".

[falviousuk]

No it doesnt, you can mute kinect so that it doesnt broadcast voice. Try doing some research before you throw out rubbish comments like that

[Condemnedman]

Yes but soooo much better.

[PurpHerbison]

It only took 13 comments for someone to bring up the Xbox. Stay classy N4G, you always do.

[SL1M DADDY]

And in other news, water, it's wet...

[Robdeagle]

You better hope news outlets don't see this comment or it's gonna be on the 5:00 news

[frostypants]

So...it does what Kinect has done for ages? As with Kinect, you turn the stupid thing off. Problem solved.

[FanboyKilla]

Actually, kimect doesnt work like that. I have it. Thats just bad design. What do expect from a tac on devive. Kinect is way more advanced than playstation spy umm i mean eye, umm camera.

[frostypants]

BS. I have a Kinect (well, technically it's sitting in a box right now), and it DOES broadcast as a standard open mic by default if you do not turn it off. That's what this is about. You don't know what you're talking about.

[falviousuk]

You can still turn kinects ic off though, it appears from early reports that you cant do this for the pseye if its plugged in.

[ZBlacktt]

It could be worse....

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Treezy504]

Jesus really, the PlayStation 4 camera has a built in mic and so did the last one. The mic is going to broadcast because if it's plugged in that is it's purpose. Guess how you disabled the PS3 eye mic? You unplugged it or went into your settings manually and shut it off, just like with the PS4 camera. People are freakig out over nothing.

[LordDhampire]

Y 2 K, NSA is watching us

[BallsEye]

Now that is annoying... seems sony forgot about a lot of important stuff, like this and 4th "leg" to make console stable...wobble woblle.

[CapsLocke]

Definitely could be.

[Crazay]

Hmmm....Not sure what to say/think about this.

[hankmoody]

It's a rumor. Treat it as such until a proper confirmation arises.

[XB1_PS4]

It's safe to say that it actually is true.. It's not a spy thing happening.. It's just being used as a mic to chat online with.. They put that in other words to make it sound bad, and everyone freaks.

[KetchupBlood]

I really hope this isn't true

[razrye]

Why?

[Sitdown]

Spygate 2.0; Sony is listening in to my mediocre conversations about my day. Red Alert! Call 911! The all seeing eye also listens. Wait, where are all the conspiracy theorist?

Rebuttle: Its not mandatory to have the eye kinected. :-/

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Sit

"Spygate 2.0; Sony is listening in to my mediocre conversations about my day. Red Alert! Call 911! The all seeing eye also listens. Wait, where are all the conspiracy theorist?"

Right here.

http://n4g.com/news/1264001...

http://n4g.com/news/1266026...

[Starbucks_Fan]

Isn't there way you can prevent it from hearing your voice?

[ExPresident]

Yeah, turn it off in the settings. Just like the PS Eye on the PS3.

[n4gusername]

I could not find this setting. A support rep told me to unplug it.

[Treezy504]

Exactly man, I'm wondering why people are freaking out over this when the PS Eye did the exact same thing.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

PS eye acts as mic if you otherwise don't have a mic plugged in.

Go to settings and disable eye/chat function.I mean what the actual hell, this is news? How are people so stupid.

PS3 eye does the same thing

[Riderz1337]

This...Can't believe people are actually stupid enough to believe everything they read on the internet. It's called going to the options people...Learn to do it.

[XboxFun]

"Can't believe people are actually stupid enough to believe everything they read on the internet."

http://n4g.com/news/1264001...

http://n4g.com/news/1266026...

Yup, can you believe what some people on the internet will buy into because of what they're told.

[EBTpickle]

Link? All I found on PS Camera was this:

http://manuals.playstation....

Wait - Can someone try this out on their PS4?

http://manuals.playstation....

[notyobizhwispndmymny]

Let me know when you find the it in settings because I checked a friend's console and we couldn't find it. I guess I am one of the stupid ones.

[DonMingos]

Why would an inFamous xbox fanboy like you "Check a friends PS4 settings", just crawl back to where you came from you troll.

Are you already tired of writing PS4 reviews on Amazon?

[Half-Mafia]

Not got a PS4 yet, cause its out on the 29th here in the UK. But I got the bundle with the camera. Does the PS4 have any settings for the camera?

[AenthonyDa1nOnli]

It's true i been trying to figure it out and finally just unpluged it. Also if you have the headset pluged in the controller you get echo feedback. I think they should just update the firmware to turn off the camera mic... Just an oversight on their part... Overall the system is pretty amazing... Yes i am a sony fanboy... Just in case you wanna know

[TIER1xWOLFPACKx]

you can turn the camera mic off, go into settings and switch the eye/chat function off

[sickamore]

I have the camera and I used it to chat in multiplayer and I can turn it off as well.

[nominal266]

Turn off? exactly how? I have the camera too, and unless i unplug it, it assumes that I want to use the mic for online voice chat. They have not added a context menu to turn it off yet.

[n4gusername]

Can someone give the full path under settings? I can not find it either under camera or audio settings. Thanks.

[speed389]

troll post/article.... you are stupid to think to much into this. just trying to stir up drama

[GryestOfBluSkies]

the ps3 eye had a microphone that was always on too (i know this because i had to unplug it for rocksmith otherwise id get some nasty feedback) . it doesn't mean sony is spying. it just means that the playstation has detected a microphone.

[jaymart2k]

It's not called PS4 Eye, ahhhhhhh

[ELCUCO]

PS4 EAR?

[Ju]

PS Camera

[devilwillcry]

Lol and sony boys always complaining about kinect

[GryestOfBluSkies]

no one has ever complained about the fact that kinect has a built-in microphone

[osamede1]

dont have a ps eye. meh

[Yo Mama]

Jesus Christ, people! Of course the damn camera is always broadcasting what you say. It has a built in mic for people that would rather use it than their earphones. As soon as you plug in your earphones, it disables the mic on the camera. This is a non-issue. People need to stop being stupid and actually think a little. I feel like I'm living inside the movie "Idiocracy".

If people are complaining about this, can you imagine how much people would complain if they bought the camera and its mic was turned off by default? They'd be burning down buildings and complaining on amazon that the damn camera didn't work out of the box. Nevermind the fact that they didn't take the time to read the instructions and figure out that it's off by default and would need to be enabled. Sony can't win with some people.

[Kane22]

im just laughing at the stupidity and the trolls.

[notyobizhwispndmymny]

So the Kinect is an NSA spying device but this is a non-issue? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Biggest]

Kinect was required. The PS camera was, and never will be required.

[XboxFun]

Just another great example of how this site works and thinks.

Could you even imagine if this were a MS/Kinect article? Oh my God, 400 comments, top of the site, easy!

Even though Kinect does not need to be hooked up, even though there has been not ONE incident of Kinect spying on you, these sony fanboys still won't believe it.

But now with a Sony camera device that can do the same, has polices in place where they can send your data to anyone and now a device that listens in automatically, it's all a "non issue", "no big deal", "everyone's blowing things out of proportions", "xbot trolls" and every other excuse to make people not think about the issue.

Move along, nothing to see here....unless of course it involves the Xbox.

[Kane22]

are people really this dumb....turn the damn thing off if your so scared Sony is listening to you talk lol. so pretty much every little thing that the ps4 has will have some BS article against it lol.

[locoz31]

This is 100% true. I was playing battlefield last night and realized the speaking indicator was flashing next to my name. I had been playing for 2 days without realizing the camera was picking up all the audio and brodcasting it to my squad. Big deal, I just pressed the options button in-game and disabled voice chat. I do think by default it should be off if it detects that the audio device is the camera.

[Yo Mama]

No it shouldn't be off by default. You're just dumb if you forgot that you had a camera/mic plugged in.

[feraldrgn]

It's basically the cam microphone is on by default & you can't turn it off yet, but you can unplug it with no problems to your system.
It'll come in a later firmware update, it sounds like an oversight.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Lord.... the camera just acts like an open mic by default when plugged in. Its the same with kinect 1.0 ....just need to adjust settings for the camera (atleast that's how kinect worked)

[aragon]

kinect 1.0 asks u at initial setup, it doesnt default it to on, even tho this is a rumor ps fanboys just assume anything bad that happens on a ps is the same with xbox, like how yoshida was saying that ps4 u can download games while ur not at home on your ps4, meanwhile i been doing that for a while now on 360

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Gotta say, seeing the Update
"Sony support confirmed there's no way to keep in-game players from hearing you talk without all together disabling voice commands or unplugging the camera."

That is kinda really poor planning.

[mixelon]

Odd, the ps3 does the same thing with the PS Eye - if you have it set as the mic. (In games like LBP i frequently forgot it was doing it.)

Presumably the ps4s audio settings are similar to the ps3 ones?

Ive got the mic pre-ordered anyway so I'm looking forward to testing things like this out. :D

[OC_MurphysLaw]

lol... I had a similar situation with the Kinect. Had it on and the mic set for chat...forgot about it. Was in between rounds of a COD game and took a moment to say good night to my son. Told him "I love you" and heard someone in game say "I love you too...". I burst out laughing realizing what just happened.

[mixelon]

Haha awesome. :D that must have been hilarious!

Could have been worse: http://youtu.be/yWypXM3tSUg (cringgggee)

[NeoTribe]

You know it would be really nice if theh put a fucking disable mic option in the camera settings... gets pretty old reaching behind it and pulling camera plug. They need to work on there software.

[mixelon]

Does the lapel mic/earpiece that comes with the ps4 have a mute button? Couldn't people just plug it in and mute that until the firmware is updated to add the option?

[Mister_Dawg]

NSA says hi.

Come on, do you really care?

Paranoid or what?

[aragon]

Would have been a bigger topic had it been a rumor on the xbone

[ocelot07]

So what happens if I plug that mono headset included with the PS4 into the controller then click the mute button will the mic on the camera then kick in?

[WeAreLegion]

It TELLS you that when you plug the camera in.

[notyobizhwispndmymny]

Gaddamit people! The camera broadcasts voice when its plugged in and you don't have you earphones plugged into the camera. Its a big deal. Must I play all the time with my earphones plugged in? Point is as long as the camera is plugged in, its always listening. Now we harped on MS for being an NSA spying device even after MS said you could turn Kinect off even if it was plugged in and we give Sony a pass for the same? I don't want anything listening to me without my explicit consent. This was an oversight on Sony's part and I expect a patch to fix this.

[DonMingos]

not a very stealthy troll. You know we can see your comment history on N4G right?

[Mister_Dawg]

You have a greater sense of your actual importance.
I'm an xbox player mostly. If Sony fans want to give MS a hard time then its their right too. As sad as that may be. Its not about giving Sony a free pass, its been pointed out and Im sure Sony will sort this eventually like you point out.

Oh yeah. Ease up on the red meat.
Have a good day :-)

[razrye]

Hey moron just unplug it. It's not like it needs to be plugged in all the time.

[Pogue1906]

You see how people make shit up to when an argument. People is on here saying that they can go into settings and turn it off. but the people who actually paid the money for the ps eye and have it, and the writer in the update are saying that you have to unplug it. OMG The PS fanboy is actually trolling other PS fanboys. That is what the MS fanboys, myself included, been dealing with since may 22, 2013

[lobocob]

well this is awkward

[Aztec_MC]

I've been watching various channels on Ustream, and I did catch a guy who didn't realize he was broadcasting, lol.

Soon as he realized someone joined, he panicked and turned off the camera, then turned off his stream... His reaction was priceless, but it does raise privacy concerns.

[feraldrgn]

["Update Sony support confirmed there's no way to keep in-game players from hearing you talk without alltogether disabling voice commands or unplugging the camera."]

Fair enough, disabling Voice Commands is a very easy fix.

Solved.

Sony will patch it with a more obvious mute icon as well most likely.

[Demoa]

and you guise gave the kinect crap for spying lol

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

LMAO at all you Sony fanboy liars saying you've set yours off in settings and then failing to tell people where those settings were when asked for help.

Sony confirmed now. All of you look stupid who said you could change your settings. Love it. Try to edit your post now.. we can see how long ago it was edited.

[cell989]

If youre so paranoid, just unplug the damn thing, no one is forcing you to buy it.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Well that is lame. Why are you spying on me? /s

[badarcade]

This was worded badly. I noticed the same problem. I was broadcasting live gameplay of Call of Duty Ghosts and I had my mono headset plugged in so I could talk to anyone watching the broadcast. The problem is when your talking to viewers, you are also talking to everyone playing the game with you. You cant turn off your voice audio for one or the other, it has to be both.

[kingPoS]

So... just unplug it; that what options are. Camera or no camera, the game will still go on.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[Socio22]

Months from now this'll be a non-issue. Sony has done a really good job listening to their customers’ feedback.
Which I’m pretty sure no one said, “Hey Sony, make sure the camera is not always on cuz I’m a lunatic who thinks so highly of himself that I believe people would spend the resources to spy on me while I play COD.”

In the meantime, disconnect it. I’ll be playing PS4 with the camera on…in the NUDE.