Discord wants to repurpose its app back into gaming, and it's rolling out a redesign of the app to help achieve that. The new look features reworked group messaging, voice chats, video calls, and more
In a message to users, Discord CEO Jason Citron said the company realized it needed to narrow its focus from “being a broadly community-focused chat app” to a service that “helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests.” The company now facilitates communication before, during or after playing.
This year, Discord will make some changes to the app that will allow users to access their conversations faster, in addition to improving the reliability of audio, video, and streaming technology. The company also plans to bring more Discord features to a wider range of devices
By turning its attention back to gaming, Discord reverses a plan it began implementing in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for messaging platforms like Discord, the company wanted to become a more general chat app that allowed users to “have a “Good time with people.” Whether it's catching up, learning something, or sharing ideas."
A lot has changed since then, and Discord laid off 17% of its employees after growing its headcount too quickly. Citron was also one of five CEOs who tested before the Senate over concerns about children's safety, and are currently pushing for legislation like the Child Safety Act. Children Online, which requires platforms like Discord to roll out measures to protect children
And during an interview on Decoder in April, Citron hinted at turning the company's attention back toward gaming. “Going forward, we're very focused on gaming as our core use case, group chatting around games,” Citron said at the time, adding that 95% of its users play games