PlayStation 5 to feature Discord chat app in Xbox snub

Up until last month, it seemed that Microsoft was poised to buy the community-based messaging tool, Discord. However, Sony’s announcement this week confirms that Discord will be coming to PlayStation early next year. 

According to a post by Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO, Jim Ryan, the “goal is to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together.”

This is not just a partnership, Sony has invested in Discord, as part of their latest round of funding in advance of a possible IPO. This suggests that the app will do more than just sit on the PlayStation platform. We can expect deeper integration of Discord within the regular chat and sharing functions of the PS5.

Discord launched around five years ago and offers topic-based channels for users to chat about anything from their favorite artist to yoga classes. Each community lives on its own server and can only be accessed with an invite from the owner or another member. It can be accessed on PC, Mac or smartphone, via a browser or app.

Despite the wide audience, the service has its roots in gaming and there has been Discord support for Xbox Live users since 2018. Tech Crunch, who first reported the story highlighted that one huge benefit for this integration is better cross-platform chats for games than run across PC, Xbox and PlayStation.