Discord is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles with Discord Voice chat being integrated into the Xbox system software. This will let you hop into cross-platform voice chat channels and group calls straight from the Xbox Dashboard, chatting with other people on Xbox, PC and mobile. It’s not inconceivable that this will include PlayStation players at some point in the near future too!
Discord Voice is available today within the Xbox Insiders testing rings, and will eventually be rolled out to all users once Microsoft are satisfied with what they’ve seen from testers.
Easily one of the most requested features, Discord Voice breaks down the barriers between platforms just that little bit, which is great when considering that there are more and more cross-platform multiplayer games being released these days. While Xbox party chat is available on Windows 10 and 11, the majority of gamers on PC are tied into the Steam ecosystem, and so cross-platform teamups can be a little awkward to organise.
The one snag to all of this is that Discord isn’t a system-level feature, but an extension that relies on using your smartphone apps to organise and get your Xbox to join a particular chat.
In order to hook your Xbox up to Discord Voice, you first need to be in an eligible Xbox Insiders ring, you must also have the Discord and Xbox smartphone apps installed on your phone. With the updated system software, you can access Discord Voice as follows:
- Press the Xbox button to bring up the Guide menu
- Go to Parties & Chats and select Try Discord Voice on Xbox
- This will now display a QR code on screen.
- Scanning the QR code with a smartphone will take you to the Discord and Xbox apps to sign up and connect the link between the two – you will also need to re-link even if these were previously connected.
- To join a Discord Voice channel, you need to navigate to it using the Discord app on your smartphone and select the ‘Join on Xbox’ option.
- This will open the Xbox app which will prompt you to transfer the chat to your Xbox
Once connected, you can expect a familiar interface to an Xbox party chat, complete with the ability to individually alter volumes, mute, and more.
Yes, there’s a few hurdles to jump through in order to use Discord Voice, but it feels quite a bit less awkward than having to chat on your phone and listen to your console audio output.
All of this is rather surprising considering the business dealings surrounding Discord in 2021. Sony invested heavily within Discord in May 2021 and potentially staved off a buyout by Microsoft (who were rumoured to be lining up a $10 billion acquisition offer). With that investment, Discord and Sony quickly brought some integrations to the platform, and it wouldn’t have been crazy speculation to think that deep Xbox integration was then less likely, if not completely off the table. It now feels like we might soon be able to have PlayStation and Xbox gamers teaming up for Destiny Raids and chatting to one another using in-built Discord Voice support.
Source: Xbox
spoonard
What the difference between Xbox Chat and Discord? Both are PC/Xbox cross-platform. What’s the advantage of using one over the other?