Discord CEO Jason Citron cofounded his communications platform company after a failure. He had a big success with OpenFeint, a social gaming platform for mobile games, selling that to Gree for $104 million in 2011.
In 2012, Citron cofounded Hammer & Chisel, a studio aimed at making multiplayer online battle arena games. Its first title, Fates Forever, wasn’t able to compete with market leaders League of Legends and DOTA 2. So Citron pivoted to Discord and gamer communications in 2015. They built Discord because they wanted a better way to hang out before, during, and after playing games. The explosion of multiplayer games has led to Discord being an indispensable tool for players — as I have discovered in games like Call of Duty: Warzone where it’s much easier to talk to three players at once on Discord.
Now the company has more than 200 million monthly users who spend 1.5 billion hours every month playing games while communicating on Discord. Over 90% of those users play games. In recent years, the company has expanded to new platforms such as the consoles. It has more than 800 employees.
During the pandemic, Discord went far and wide as people needed a reliable communications technology during the pandemic. It prospered in education and other fields. In the wake of that expansion, the company went back to its roots in games. Discord’s numbers are still strong even as it has focused from targeting all communities to falling back on gaming.
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Recently, Citron published a blog post about the next chapter for Discord and its move to refocus on game communications. He noted Discord is making moves on monetization, helping developers to launch their games through Quests.
I started this Q&A with former GamesBeat writer Jordan Fragen. She started it and I sent follow-up questions in addition to her own. The mix of written questions is here and Citron’s answers are below. Here’s an edited transcript of the interview.
GamesBeat: How large is Discord now? How far does it have to grow to accomplish more goals on the roadmap?
Jason Citron: Today, Discord is used by over 200 million people every month. And with over 90% of those users playing games, they spend a combined 1.5 billion hours every month playing thousands of unique titles on our platform. However, we still have plenty of room to grow – today, when a new game, season, or DLC launches, we often see that 50-80% of that game’s player base are already Discord users, so we have an opportunity to further connect those experiences.
Looking ahead, we are tackling some exciting, important updates to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our users, including: helping them find their friends more quickly, while ensuring they’re able to talk and hang out reliably, and bringing more offerings to the platform so users have even more things to do before, during and after playing games.
GamesBeat: What are the biggest product differences between the desktop, mobile and console versions of Discord? How have the products diverged over time?
We’ve worked hard to tailor the products across desktop, mobile and console to the needs of our users on each platform and are continuing to focus on this area. We’ve been doubling down on the speed, power and reliability of our app while also continuing to prioritize making Discord the place for cross-platform play. On consoles, we announced new features earlier this year with our partners at PlayStation and Xbox. On PlayStation 5, players can now join or receive calls directly from their console, while Xbox players have the ability to stream from Xbox to Discord, and will soon be able to view Discord streams directly on their console. Additionally, they’ll be able to see Discord friend activity from the Xbox friends list adding a new dimension to how they engage with friends before, during, and after gameplay.
GamesBeat: Are there any notable differences in Discord user behavior between platforms?
The way our users engage across desktop, mobile and console mostly differs based on what makes it easiest to play games and connect with friends simultaneously. People come to Discord to hang out with their friends before, during and after playing games. While many of our daily users utilize our mobile app as an alternative, more seamless way to group text, we also see many players Going Live in a Voice chat, tabbing between Discord and their favorite PC game, or playing a casual game via Activities on mobile. And over the years, we’ve continued to build more features into our console integrations, so we’re now seeing more and more people use Discord to talk directly in Voice chat from their Xbox or Playstation.
GamesBeat: What products does Discord have to support/encourage cross platform play? Are any of these products revenue generating?
Discord Voice chat, which is available on mobile, desktop, Playstation and Xbox, is one of the most used features on Discord for cross-platform play. The ability to stream and watch other users stream games on Xbox and desktop to Discord, is another huge one, and all three of these features contribute to our user experience, making it feel like everyone’s in the same room together. In fact, 80% of players on Discord communicate over voice while gaming, with 31% of those players streaming games to others. This accounts for over 12.5 million hours streamed and over 15.8M hours of viewed streams in total every month.
While our voice chat and streaming features are part of our free, core product experience, we generate most of our revenue directly from our optional subscription membership called Nitro, which supercharges users’ Discord experience with upgraded emojis, higher quality video streaming and more. And earlier this year, we introduced sponsored Quests on our platform, providing players with a way to discover games and earn rewards for playing them on Discord. While initially only available for users on PC, we recently announced our first cross platform Quest with VALORANT – now available on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 – to celebrate the game’s launch on console.
GamesBeat: Does cross platform play represent a revenue or audience growth (or both) strategy for Discord?
We believe cross-platform play represents a huge opportunity for audience growth. Over the next decade, we believe another billion people will be playing multiplayer games and enjoying the kinds of deep, rich experiences that we all have come to love, so it’ll be more important than ever for us to provide a fast, seamless, and powerful service. While Discord’s core features are free, our business is aligned to the needs of our users and we make money when people feel incentivized to plus up their experience through our subscription membership, Nitro. Earlier this year, we launched Quests to connect players on Discord with the games they love, and heard great feedback from those who completed them. For marketers, Quests are driving gameplay and longer engagement. Among users who share their gameplay activity with Discord, we’ve seen an average playtime lift of 16% and average player count lift of 9% across Quests run this year.
GamesBeat: Xbox’s cross platform ambitions are shaking up the long standing console war. What does Discord think of these changes?
We’re headed towards a future where cross-platform play will no longer be seen as an option, but rather a core element of any gaming experience. For Discord, we believe this offers a clearer signal around the future of gaming – we want to be the place where people play games and hang out with friends, regardless of the platform they’re playing on. We’ve carved out a space for ourselves in this space and as those barriers break down, we’re focused on making Discord the best experience for players.
GamesBeat: What do you predict some of the ripple effects will be – particularly at a time when the broader games industry, including Discord, is grappling with layoffs and cost cutting?
There’s no denying it’s been an incredibly tough year for the industry and we’re not immune to this. Despite it all, we’ve seen gaming surge over the past few years. It’s overtaken movies and music combined to become the largest and fastest growing form of entertainment in the world, so we are optimistic. We’ve already seen the continued growth of independent studios and game developers meet the demands of users coinciding with the decline of console exclusivity. And we’re really excited to see more innovative and experimental game designs emerge and push the industry into new areas. As this shift happens, it’ll be more important than ever for developers and creators to set themselves apart.
For Discord, because we reach such diverse audiences across multiple platforms who love and play games, we’re uniquely positioned to help the industry solve some of its current barriers. That’s why we’re evolving the ways we serve our customers to ensure we remain a vibrant place to build and bring people together over gaming.
GamesBeat: Where does Discord see opportunities as the console walled gardens begin to break down?
It’s been great to see major developers bring some of the most popular multiplayer games to more platforms. These shifts are exactly what Discord was built for – giving people the ability to play with their friends no matter what device they’re on. The increase in cross platform games and the reduction of title exclusivity creates an opportunity for us to bring in new users and continue making the experience even better for our existing players and developers.
GamesBeat: Very few companies have the crossplatform reach/insights of Discord. How do you think player behavior and/or preferences might change in a less restricted ecosystem?
Social gaming is growing in popularity, so we anticipate people playing different types of games across genres and platforms, and servers of different sizes being created for players to find their teams. Based on this shift, it’s more important now than ever to provide the tools needed to play with friends on any device. We’re already building many of these tools, including our work experimenting with the Guilds feature and our recent integration of the Discord friends list into Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles.
Discord is uniquely and inherently positioned to be a central place where players hang out together. Our data shows us that over 85% of players on Discord have a friend who plays the same games, indicating that it’s likely that the large network of players will only continue to grow in a less restricted ecosystem.
GamesBeat: Discord has spread across platforms inexorably. What was essential to making this happen? If you made quick or slow progress at varying times, what was the reason for that?
Twelve years ago, we had a hunch that multiplayer gaming would be the future of entertainment and that people would need a well-made communications platform to talk with their gaming friends. Today, this hunch has become a reality. More and more people are in need of a way to connect with others while playing different types of games – including multiplayer and single player titles – across multiple devices. To meet these needs, we’ve continued to build on our console integrations to make any platform experience as seamless as possible.
GamesBeat: Discord is still independent. I know there were various times the company was considering changing that. How did you err toward remaining independent?
Whenever we get into any of these situations, I think about where we are as a business and what’s best for our customers and shareholders. So far, every time, we’ve landed on staying independent because we’re eager to see where we can take our platform. And right now, we’re focused on delivering an experience that makes it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games. We’ve also broadened our business opportunities and are seeing increasing success – from the millions of users who support our platform through paid Nitro memberships, to the steady growth of Quests, a new tool that rewards players for playing their favorite games, and the Shop, which allows users to customize their profile with Avatar Decorations and Profile Effects. With Quests, we’ve seen a 16% average playtime lift and 9% average player count lift across the campaigns we’ve run thus far, while the Shop has celebrated successful partnerships with Valorant, Palworld, and SpongeBob since its launch last year. We’re continuing our investment in both areas and are excited for what’s to come.
GamesBeat: Discord can still be confusing to use. How are you making it easier?
We’re constantly working to make our platform easier to use. Last year, we made changes to the mobile app to optimize that experience, and overall, we’ve continued to design Discord to be customizable based on what works for each individual user. We’re focused on making Discord easier to use for new users, while still retaining our product magic for users who know our platform well. At this stage, we’re always listening to what our users say and are focused on improving and optimizing Discord for people who play games.
GamesBeat: What’s a good example of someone maximizing the gaming use of Discord in a community?
Several iconic games have been released this year, and as more than half of these player bases already use Discord, communities for popular games like Palworld, Elden Ring, and Animal Well have come together on our platform for a variety of reasons.
For example, we saw Palworld game developers using Discord to interact with players and address product feedback in real time – showcasing the instant, realtime connection our platform provides. With Elden Ring, Discord became the cultural hub for players to connect, collaborate, and discuss new drops, new characters, and important tips in defeating bosses like Bayle or Radahn. Animal Well is another one – players were tearing the game apart to uncover its secrets, with nearly 50 players jumping into a server to solve one of the more complicated puzzles.
It’s inspiring to see the creative ways our users gather on our platform, and these are only just a few examples of how Discord can level up any gaming experience.
GamesBeat: Why did you do the recent rebranding?
We received feedback from our users, fans and employees that made us realize we needed to make some changes to keep up with our users. Discord has certainly grown since its inception in 2015, but the heart of our platform has been, and will continue to be, centered around gaming. Over the past nine years, Discord has been instrumental in helping users build and deepen their friendships around games, and as we focus on our path forward, ensuring that is reflected in the way we show up in the world is critical.
GamesBeat: Any desire to go public?
We don’t have anything to share about an IPO, but we’ve built this company with strong operational fundamentals to address global opportunities at scale. We will do what is best to continue to grow a healthy business and serve our users.
GamesBeat: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Earlier this year, I reaffirmed our commitment to helping users find connection around games and shared interests. Supporting developers in bringing their creativity to life on Discord is central to that mission. We believe that Discord can become a sandbox that fosters creativity and breakthroughs in social gaming, and that new types of games – built around friend groups – can emerge on Discord. Developers like FRVR and Playroom have been early to build Activities and are already seeing massive success. It’s a very exciting time for this space, and we’ll be sharing some updates soon for developers that want to build, scale and monetize games on Discord.
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