Stanislav Vishnevskiy joins Jason as they continue working together on their upcoming mobile game. But much like the protagonists of our favorite game stories, all journeys have their humble beginnings… Set your avatar and a custom status, and write your own profile to show up in chat your way.

Video calls and streaming

This led to the development of a chat service with a focus on user friendliness with minimal impact on performance. According to Citron, during the development process, he noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available voice over IP (VoIP) software. It is primarily used by gamers, although the share of users interested in other topics is growing. Discord doubles-down on its mission to be the best place to hang out before, during, and after playing games. Jason & Stan loved playing games but couldn’t find a reliable way to talk while playing online. Watch videos, play built-in games, listen to music, or just scroll together and spam memes.

According to Citron, they made no specific moves to target any specific audience, but some gaming-related subreddits quickly began to replace their IRC links with Discord links. Discord was publicly released in May 2015 under the domain name discordapp.com. In addition, “Discord in the gaming community” was the problem they wished to solve. Citron sold OpenFeint to GREE in 2011 for US$104 million, which he used to found Hammer & Chisel, a game development studio, in 2012. Jason Citron and Guy Raz talk about Jason’s early career and how Discord grew to become the platform it is today. Jason Citron alongside Anjney Midha shares insights on the shift from gamer to developer and more.

• In 2017, Discord stated that it has plans to implement changes that would “rid the platform of the issue”.
• The Moroccan protests at the end of the same month also originated on Discord, using the platform for organising and public statements.
• The ability to purchase stickers was discontinued, and users who had done so were refunded.
• While these features somewhat mimic the livestreaming capabilities of platforms like Twitch, the company does not plan to compete with these services, as these features were made for small groups.
• Watch the video to learn more about the social platform for all of gaming, where over 200 million friends and communities chat over text, voice, and video calls every month.

Discord

For supported games, you can see what modes or characters your friends are playing and directly join up. Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Talk, play, and hang out with friends around the world over voice, video, or text. On January 27, 2021, Discord banned the r/WallStreetBets server during the GameStop short squeeze, citing “hateful and discriminatory content”, which users found contentious. Approximately 30 minutes before the shooting, several users were invited chicken road game download by Gendron to view the server and read the messages. Citron stated that servers found to be engaged in illegal activities or violations of the terms of service would be shut down, but would not disclose any examples.

Features

For example, if a server maintains 2 boosts, it unlocks perks such as a higher maximum audio quality in voice channels and the ability to use an animated server icon. For its WebRTC transport of voice and video, it uses dedicated server infrastructure from Datapacket. According to BetterDiscord’s developers, users of the modification are not at risk of being sanctioned by Discord so long as they do not use additional modifications that violate Discord’s terms of service. One plugin, for example, allows its users to apply custom themes for free; another plugin allows increasing the volume of a voice-call participant beyond the default. When installed by server owners, they may aid in moderation, host mini games, and perform myriad of other automated tasks.

Shape the Future of Gaming with us

• During the Gen Z protests that spread throughout 2025, many demonstrations were organized on the platform.
• Users criticized the possible impersonation risk that may arise if their previous username was claimed by another user.
• Two weeks later, Discord partnered with YouTube to test a “Watch Together” feature, which allows Discord users to watch YouTube videos together.
• Seamlessly text, call, video chat, and play games, all in one group chat.

In October 2022, the “Discord Nitro Classic” subscription tier was replaced by a $2.99 “Discord Nitro Basic”, which features a subset of features from the $9.99 “Nitro” tier. In January 2017, the first paid subscription and features were released with “Discord Nitro Classic” (originally released as “Discord Nitro”). The desktop client is built on the Electron software framework using web technologies, which allows it to be multi-platform and operate as an installed application on personal computers. The infrastructure was migrated to Apache Cassandra when the platform reached a billion messages, then later migrated to ScyllaDB when it reached a trillion messages.

It will possibly apply in Australia when the social media ban for under 16 came into force by 10 December 2025. Chinese police will find and interrogate people who make sensitive comments on the platform. Roskomnadzor demanded that the platform remove 947 posts containing illegal content and imposed a fine in the amount of 3.5 million rubles (US$37,493).

The Discord Story

Unicorn Riot has since published member lists and contents of several dozen servers connected to alt-right, white supremacist, and other such movements. Since then, several neo-Nazi and alt-right servers have been shut down by Discord, including those operated by neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division, Nordic Resistance Movement, Iron March, and European Domas. The report found that the companies’ user and non-user data practices made individuals vulnerable to identity theft, stalking, unlawful discrimination, emotional distress and mental health issues, social stigma, and reputational harm. By January 2016, Hammer & Chisel reported Discord had been used by 3 million people, with growth of 1 million per month, reaching 11 million users in July that year.

Watch the video to learn more about the social platform for all of gaming, where over 200 million friends and communities chat over text, voice, and video calls every month. The company observed that while the bulk of its servers are used for gaming-related purposes, a small number have been created by users for non-gaming activities, like stock trading, fantasy football, and other shared interest groups. A Social SDK was released in March 2025 which will allow games to incorporate Discord’s social features into games and assist with providing in-game communications between Discord and non-Discord users. Discord is a voice, video, and text communication platform used by over two hundred million people to hang out and play games with their friends.

In December 2017, Discord added a software development kit (SDK) that allows developers to integrate their games with the service, called “rich presence”. In December 2016, the company introduced its GameBridge API, which allows game developers to directly integrate with Discord within games. This can be used, for example, to give select users access to alpha- and beta-builds of a game in progress as an early access alternative.

As of 2024,update Discord has about 150 million monthly active users and 19 million weekly active servers. Discord is an instant messaging and VoIP social platform that allows communication through voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and media. We’re building Discord to be the perfect place to talk while playing games on any platform, no matter what device you play on. Discord introduces voice chat support for PS5 consoles and reveals Activities, a way to play games directly in Discord.

Discord captured users who were leaving Facebook and other platforms due to privacy concerns. Among other planned changes was to reduce the number of gaming in-jokes it used within the client, improving the user onboarding experience, and increasing server capacity and reliability. In June 2020, Discord announced it was shifting focus away from video gaming specifically to a more all-purpose communication and chat client for all functions, revealing its new slogan “Your place to talk”, along with a revised website. Microsoft announced in April 2018 that it would provide Discord support for Xbox Live users, allowing them to link their Discord and Xbox Live accounts so that they can connect with their Xbox Live friends list through Discord.

Users criticized the possible impersonation risk that may arise if their previous username was claimed by another user. This system was ultimately changed to a handle-based system in May 2023, removing the discriminator from usernames. Forum Channels, which allow for longer and separate conversations were introduced to the platform in September 2022. In August 2021, Discord launched Threads, which are temporary text channels that can be set to automatically disappear.

The decision was made following the murder of two women in Istanbul by a 19-year old Discord user who allegedly garnered support for his action from Discord users before he took his own life on 4 October 2024. Some Discord users subsequently criticized the moderation staff for selectively allowing “cub” content, or underage pornographic furry artwork, under the same guidelines. Prior to Robinson’s arrest, users in the group had also exchanged messages comparing supposed images of the shooter to Robinson, who joked he was being framed by a doppelgänger.

Discord told the press that the server was deleted by moderators shortly after the shooting. It was reported that Gendron used a private Discord server as a diary for weeks as he prepared for the attack. The server had been used by former members of the r/The_Donald subreddit, which Reddit had deleted several months prior. In March 2019, the media collective Unicorn Riot published the contents of a Discord server used by several members of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa who were also members of the United States Armed Forces.

Features

We’re continuing to make Discord the best, most reliable platform to talk and play for players on PC, mobile, and console. Sakhnini brings deep gaming industry experience from leadership roles at Activision Blizzard and King. Discord teams up with PlayStation for account linking support, allowing people on Discord to show off what they’re playing on their PlayStation 5 console. Discord’s Rich Presence API releases, letting players display what they’re doing in-game, directly on Discord.

Discord has worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center to identify hateful groups using Discord and ban those groups from the service. Discord gained popularity with the alt-right due to the pseudonymity and privacy offered by Discord’s service. A study published in New Media & Society criticized Discord’s offloading of server search functions to unmoderated third-party apps, saying that it facilitates hateful communities to find new audience. Discord has a Trust and Safety department, which is tasked with responding to user reports.

Easily hop in and out of voice or text chats without having to call or invite anyone, so your party chat lasts before, during, and after your game session. Use custom emoji, stickers, soundboard effects and more to add your personality to your voice, video, or text chat. Bring Discord with you and chat whenever, have fun with friends, or just see what’s up. In July 2025, Discord began mandating that British users submit to age verification to access content that is age-restricted or marked as sensitive in the UK, to comply with Online Safety Act 2023.