Console manufacturers have taken notice and started to look for ways to integrate the app. PlayStation has already started the integration by letting players link their PSN accounts to Discord. But, it appears that Sony plans to take this even further by integrating the voice chat functionality of discord on the PS5. This will be the most useful in multiplayer cross-platform titles. According to Tom Henderson, this planned integration will happen by March once Firmware Update 7.00 for the PS5 arrives.
Report via @XputerE https://t.co/iF598Rk2vA — Tom Henderson (@Tom_Henderson) August 26, 2022 Sony first announced its partnership with Discord last year in May. At the time, Jim Ryan, President, and CEO of Playstation Studios had this to say:
What is Discord?
Discord is a popular instant messaging and social platform. It became popular as a means for users to create servers for specific topics and maintain persistent chat rooms and voice channels. A server is a term used by Discord for communities within the app. Most servers cater to a particular topic such as a game and channels within a server can be categorized or grouped for ease of access. Discord users can create and maintain servers for free. Each server can host up to 800,000 members and have voice and text channels. Discord grew in popularity among gamers as it made it easier to communicate with other players and create communities centered around a game. This is especially true with games that have not implemented cross-platform voice chat. The instant messaging functionality is crucial in multiplayer video games that need proper coordination across large distances as well as for socialization. Discord is also extremely popular with streamers as it lets them communicate with their teams/parties privately during a live stream session. Other streamers use Discord voice chat to talk to viewers of a live stream and broadcast it.
What else will update 7.00 bring to the PS5?
Sony intends to release the Discord integration with Firmware Update 7.00 which is expected to arrive on March 8, 2023, according to a tweet by Henderson. Development on the Discord implementation for PS5 is well underway and progress has been “going very well.” This new feature will not replace the native voice chat functionality of the PlayStation. When the integration launches, players can turn off the in-game chat and use Discord channels streamline voice chat communication. PS5 is currently on Firmware 5.50 with Update 6.00 expected to arrive on September 7th. PlayStation players can prepare for the integration by linking their PSN accounts to Discord accounts. Microsoft also plans to integrate the popular communications app into the Xbox consoles. The Xbox update should release around the same time as PlayStation.
