2017 has been a big year for Discord. More than 45 million gamers have signed up for the text and voice chat service since it sprang to life in March 2015. Nine million use it on a daily basis. A recent Techcrunch report suggests Discord raised around $50 million in additional investments back in January. Last month the company announced Andy Swanson, former VP of sales and “eSports evangelist” at Twitch, would join Discord as the new head of publisher relations.
The service’s growth has been shocking, in part, because of the short timeframe in which that growth has occurred. It’s also impressive because Discord’s primary means of promotion has been word of mouth. The company builds booths at conventions and has a marketing team, but few things are more convincing than a friend’s recommendation. It’s how this reporter was introduced to Discord, and the same goes for millions of other users. The company is proud of what it’s accomplished with social currency. But Discord executives recognize the growth potential of working closely with the people making the games their service complements. And that’s where Swanson comes in.
Reaching out to developers and publishers might seem strange in an era of PlayStation Blogs and publisher-specific storefronts. For those of us on the outside looking in, it would seem game companies are constantly trying to increase their control over every aspect of their products, from distribution to public discussion. But Swanson says those notions are based on outdated industry practices. Developers and publishers have apparently abandoned efforts to steer public discussion of their work. Some can occasionally guide the conversation to friendly waters. But Swanson says most companies just want to be active participants these days.
“Most video game companies have loosened, to some extent. They can’t control community. They can participate in it,” he told Player.One. “They’re embracing [when communities] tell them what they like and what they dislike. I think that’s probably true in greater entertainment as well. Probably film and music a little bit. It’s like ‘We need the community to be behind us. So rather than try to control the community, how do we participate in the community?’”
Swanson credits services like Twitch and YouTube for helping loosen that grasp. He also points to the rise of community managers and other social media personnel who help cultivate online communities. Such positions went from rarities, reserved for the largest studios and franchises, to par for the course very quickly. But he’d like to see more companies put that same effort into Discord. Most “official” channels for popular titles aren’t actually run by anyone associated with the game. Swanson says many are run by subreddits and other fan-run communities. And even the companies who do make use of Discord aren’t necessarily seeing the full benefit.
“We’re starting to see developers use it as a beta communication tool or an alpha communication tool,” Swanson said. “I think it would be interesting to see, much like we see Twitch influencers say ‘Hey, let’s do a subscriber-only chat!’ or a subscriber-only game, how can [developers and publishers] use Discord to make the Discord community feel like they are getting something … or access to something unique and special.”
Swanson says the company is also looking for ways to make Discord adoption even easier. You can already use the service without downloading anything, on computers or smart devices, and the Connections menu makes it easy to import friends from other social networks. But the company is also working on a new software development kit (SDK), GameBridge, that makes it easier for developers to integrate Discord features into their games. The company is partnered with several studios, like Nexon (Law Breakers) and Poppermost (Snow), and Discord is in talks with some of the industry’s top publishers too. The company even expressed interest in working with Nintendo on its voice chat service, which debuts alongside Splatoon 2 later this month.
Swanson is also aware of his alma mater’s recent efforts at community building, in an effort to make Twitch more than just a source of entertainment. But he doesn't seem particularly concerned by those developments. Twitch may be looking to pivot into the social space, with community-focused features like Pulse or VODcasting, but Discord doesn't consider the Amazon-backed streaming service to be direct competitor.
“We love Twitch but we fundamentally see ourselves as different,” Swanson said. “We are a communications platform whereas they are an entertainment platform. Discord is a place where people come to talk about games, during games, around games, and outside of games - both on PC and on mobile - which is very different from an entertainment destination like Twitch where people can go to watch their favorite live gaming content. We want to be where gamers and their friends go hang out anytime, anywhere.”
Those interested in Discord can sign up for a free account at DiscordApp.com.
