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Sony Interactive Entertainment has made a minority investment in Discord, and they are in the process of bringing Discord to the PlayStation Network in 2022.
Discord is voice-over-internet-protocol communication software, which was released in 2015 and has gained massive popularity since. Much of its boom came from different video game communities, as Discord not only served the role of a party voice chat, it also acted as a permanent group chat.
Near the end of April this year, Discord was reportedly in talks with Microsoft about selling the platform for at least $10 billion, but that did not end up happening. It appears from Sony’s minority investment in Discord in their latest round of capital-raising, Sony was just waiting for their moment to strike.
Sony, Discord announce partnership to bring the communication service to PlayStation
Jim Ryan, President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment said,
“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. 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.”
Ryan went on to state that Discord and Sony are “already hard at work connecting Discord with your social and gaming experience on PlayStation Network”. Their goal is “to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together.”
It’s not yet clear how Sony plans on integrating Discord with their PlayStation Network. But it can be presumed that there'll be some kind of Discord chat interface that'll let users interact with their friends on PSN either through voice or text, though it's unclear if there'll be a full blown Discord app inside, or if Sony will opt for a more limited implementation.
Discord on PSN has the potential to revolutionize the way console players use voice communication in-game. It can also serve as a tool to form communities around different games, hobbies and other niches, as has been the case in Discord while it was only on PC.
