Back in May 2021, PlayStation announced that it was forming a partnership with voice and text chat app Discord, and now it has finally revealed one interesting detail behind it. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners in the United States will now be able to integrate their game activity with their Discord account and share it with their friends.
This comes just after the landmark announcement that Sony has acquired Destiny 2 developer Bungie, a massive deal for PlayStation and the latest salvo in the current console wars. Both studios are snapping up video game developers but haven't been keeping many of their titles exclusive to their respective platforms, so perhaps making a console better with quality of life improvements is one answer.
The PlayStation integration will work similarly to other existing service integrations on Discord, in that it allows players to showcase their activity. Discord users’ friends will be able to see what they are playing on PS4 and PS5 after the integration is complete. Users can also choose to display their PlayStation Network online IDs on their profile so that their Discord connections can easily add them as a PlayStation friend, and even see if they’re playing a game they can jump into. There is no ability to share user content such as screenshots and videos just yet, but PlayStation gamers hope to see sharing functionality in the future.
Sony is clearly hinging on all of this good news to take away from the fact that Microsoft is acquiring a number of massive studios such as Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, and to show its fans that it has exciting things in store as well. The console wars are clearly ramping up but Microsoft has already extended its congratulations to Sony about the deal.
While Xbox owners can use Xbox Live as a Discord Connection, the integration is minimal. Since Sony now has a minority investment in Discord, Xbox users wonder if they will ever see a complete integration with their consoles as well. Rumors still abound that a higher priced PlayStation Plus service will launch in the future, and that perhaps some Discord perks could be included as part of it. Premium subscription Discord Nitro costs extra, but perhaps could be bundled as part of a higher-priced PS Plus tier.
While players wait to see just what the future of PlayStation's subscription and streaming services holds, and if that's a brand-new type PS Plus subscription tier as rumored, players can at least take advantage of these new features. Discord's PlayStation Network account connection is rolling out in the U.S. today with additional countries to follow. It will be available on every platform Discord is on, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web browsers.
Source: Discord