Xbox One and Xbox 360 users can't voice chat across platforms

Xbox One users will not be able to voice chat with friends on an Xbox 360 "for a variety of technical reasons," Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten told IGN.

The console will still allow players to communicate with friends via text, but the system won't support voice chat. Whitten did not give a full explanation, but mentioned factors such as sound quality. Friends will still be able to see each other online across platforms, Whitten said.

"My friends that are still on Xbox 360, for example, might see that I'm on Xbox One, playing Ryse," Whitten said. "Since I can have more than 100 friends on Xbox One, if I go back to Xbox 360 and I have more than 100 friends, it will only show me the subset of my friends who are friends with me on Xbox 360."

The communication gap goes against what former Microsoft president of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick told Polygon in May. At the time of the reveal, Mattrick said that the "new generation" of Xbox Live would allow voice chat across both consoles.