Discord Voice Chat is Now Available on Xbox Consoles
Discord Voice chat is now available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Microsoft has been testing this new Discord integration with Xbox Insiders since July, and this is really a first on consoles.
In recent years, Discord has definitely become a favorite communication app among gamers, and Microsoft even tried and failed to acquire Discord last year. It’s already possible for Xbox gamers to show which games they’re playing on Discord, but today’s news push the Discord integration in the Xbox OS even further.
“With this update, you can now chat with anyone on Discord via voice channels or group calls directly from your console, making it easy to connect with friends across mobile, Xbox, and PC,” the Xbox team explained. “This means that you will be able to see who is in the call and speaking while you are playing on your console. You’ll also be able to adjust the sound and switch between Discord Voice and Xbox game chat while you play all your favorite games.”
In practice, there’s still no native Discord app on Xbox consoles. Instead, Xbox gamers will need to use the Discord mobile app to link their Discord account to their Xbox account, and then transfer Discord voice calls from their phone to their Xbox.
Currently, this Discord voice chat integration has some limitations compared to Xbox Party Chat: You can’t invite people in a Discord voice channel to play a game with you, and you also can’t broadcast Discord voice channel audio through Xbox live streaming. Switching between Discord voice channels on Xbox is also not supported, and you’ll need to retransfer a Discord call from your phone to your console every time.
Yes, this integration is pretty basic for now, but Discord voice chat integration has been a really popular request from Xbox gamers. Microsoft also teased that it will continue to work with Discord on new features. “We’re excited to bring more Discord experiences to Xbox in the future,” the Xbox team said today.