Voice chat is a mainstay in most online multiplayer games, and while it can be abused by trolls and other immature idiots, it can often also be vital to progression, especially in co-op sessions.

But what if you're deaf? Or you don't want the whole house to hear the chatter coming from other players' mouths?

Microsoft is rolling out something that can help. It is piloting live speech-to-text and text-to-speech translation for in-game chat, first in Halo Wars for Xbox One and Windows 10.

It overlays players' conversations as text onto your screen if you choose the option in settings. And if you want your own text inputs converted to speech for others to hear, you can even choose the voice that will be used.

Microsoft says there could be lag in transcription at times, which might make it a little hard to use to implement fast tactics in a first person shooter, but a strategy game like Halo Wars 2 should work well.

It is being rolled out to the Xbox One and PC versions now, but could appear in other games in time.

We wonder if Microsoft will be keeping logs of what is said using the tech, or has plans to allow you to download full transcriptions after a gaming session. Would be one way to report trolls and other offensive comments.