Sony announces new partnership with gaming platform Discord, raising hopes for improved cross-play

Sony has invested a minority stake in Discord, the popular messaging platform used by gamers globally.

The news came in a blog post from Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan.

PlayStation and Discord will see some form of connection from early next year on both consoles and mobile.

“At PlayStation, we’re constantly looking for new ways to enable players around the world to connect with one another, form new friendships and communities, and share fun experiences and lasting memories,” said Ryan in the blog post.

“It’s in this spirit that we’re excited to announce a new partnership with Discord, the communication service popularized by gamers and used by more than 140 million people every month around the world.”

The minority stake was made as part of Discord’s Series H round of investments.

“From our very first conversation with co-founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, I was inspired by their lifelong love for gaming and our teams’ shared passion to help bring friends and communities together in new ways,” said Ryan.

“Empowering players to create communities and enjoy shared gaming experiences is at the heart of what we do, so we are beyond excited to start this journey with one of the world’s most popular communication services.”

It’s unclear as to what the integration between Discord and PlayStation will look like.

Sony’s console already has a voice chat function, though this is solely for PlayStation gamers. Perhaps the full Discord app will be available on the console, used for cross-play chat with players on other platforms.

Just recently, rumours circulated that Microsoft had bid to purchase the platform for around $10 billion but the offer was reportedly declined.

Now, their main rival has swooped in.

Discord is a communication app that allows for both open and private communities of text and voice chat. Though it grew in popularity as a voice chat platform for gamers, the company has aimed to expand into a more general service.

It’s also used hugely by Twitch streamers to develop their communities outside of streaming – check out our guide to Discord here.

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• Dec 01 2023

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