Xbox’s newest collaboration would not be the first time Microsoft has teamed up with Discord. Both Xbox and Discord have frequently featured each other through their premium memberships with Discord’s “Nitro” program giving out trials of Game Pass and Xbox’s service giving Nitro subscriptions. However, while Xbox had previously added Discord integration to the Xbox One and Series X/S, the partnership was limited to displaying active games on a player’s profile. Now, one of the platform’s biggest features is finally arriving as Microsoft reveals Discord voice chat is coming to Xbox.
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Microsoft officially unveiled Xbox’s upcoming Discord integration Wednesday morning with the service arriving first for Xbox Insiders before a full release to come at a later date. The integration will require players to link their Xbox and Discord accounts in order to join a call, allowing players to switch between Discord calls and Xbox’s game chat. However, the Discord integration will still require Xbox users to start or join the call on Discord’s PC client, being prompted to “Join on Xbox” through the PC Xbox app before connecting on the console.
Xbox’s addition of Discord voice chat follows in the footsteps of PlayStation, who first rolled out Discord integration earlier this year. However, despite Sony purchasing a stake in Discord, Xbox is set to receive Discord voice chat before PlayStation with Sony’s offerings only featuring a similar game integration to Xbox’s. Microsoft has not officially confirmed when a wider release of Discord voice chat on Xbox would be coming, but plans to “expand to more users in the coming weeks.”
Discord’s integration with Xbox comes as just the most recent example of the platform’s explosion in popularity over the seven years since its launch. The success of Discord has not only seen it become a hub for online communities, but also a pop culture icon referenced in a variety of media like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Discord voice chat will give players on Xbox another way to party up with their friends across platforms.
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