Sony Online Entertainment has today announced that Champions of Norrath will support USB headset voice chat functionality during online play. The online role-playing game, which is currently in development at Snowblind Studios, is scheduled for release in February.

"Voice chat is the final piece of the puzzle with Champions," said Michael Lustenberger, director of marketing for Sony Online Entertainment. "It's the one feature that has been most requested in the game, and we are pleased to announce its inclusion. With the addition of voice chat, we believe Champions is now far and away the leader in its genre."

The bad news, at least for some players, is that playing Champions of Norrath online will require a broadband connection because of the amount of data that passes between players who are talking and playing simultaneously. It had previously been suggested that the online portion of the game would be playable with a dial-up connection.

For more information on Champions of Norrath, which is set several hundred years before the current EverQuest PC title, check out our previous coverage of the game.