Ventrilo (Vent for short) is proprietary VoIP software that includes text chat. Originally developed by Flagship Industries, Inc., Ventrilo has been owned and operated by LightSpeed Gaming LLC since 2023.

The Ventrilo client and server are both available as freeware for use with up to 8 people on the same server. Rented servers can maintain up to 400 people. The Ventrilo server is available under a limited license for Microsoft Windows and macOS and is accessible on FreeBSD Kopi, Solaris and NetBSD. The client is available for Windows and macOS. However, the macOS client is still unable to properly use most servers because of a lack of support for the sparsely used GSM codec. No official Linux Ventrilo client has been released. Third-party Ventrilo clients are available for mobile devices, such as Ventrilode for iPhone and Ventriloid for Android.

Ventrilo supports the GSM Full Rate codec and used to support the Speex codec, which Ventrilo 4.0.0 replaced with the Opus codec.

Usage

Ventrilo was heavily used by gamers in the 2000s, who used the software to communicate with other players on the same team of a multiplayer game, or for general chat. This usage inspired the 2006 smash single "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA" by Swedish artist Basshunter.

History

Flagship Industries (2002-2023)

Ventrilo was developed by Flagship Industries, Inc., a company based in Illinois.

Flagship Industries, Inc. was dissolved on 8 September 2023, according to the Illinois Secretary of State.

LightSpeed Gaming (2023-present)

In 2023, LightSpeed Gaming LLC, an Ohio-based company that had operated as an authorized Ventrilo hosting provider since 2004, acquired the Ventrilo trademark and assets. LightSpeed Gaming had previously operated InstantVentrilo.com, a Ventrilo server hosting service, as well as hosting services for Mumble and TeamSpeak.

In 2026, LightSpeed Gaming launched GameVox, a voice chat platform described by the company as a successor product, in open beta.

Controversy

Flagship Industries, Inc., the original developer of Ventrilo, was involved in several copyright infringement cases as plaintiff.

See also

  • Comparison of VoIP software
  • Discord
  • GameVox
  • Mumble
  • Roger Wilco
  • Skype
  • TeamSpeak

References