Finally, Discord voice chat has its place on consoles.
The popular messaging and community platform widely used by PC gamers for its exceptionally well-implemented voice chat, streaming, and social media features is now starting to roll out to select Xbox users. For now, it’s limited to members of the Xbox Insiders program who receive an invitation, but access will grow “in the coming weeks,” Xbox says.
While the main Discord app offers an array of features, this Xbox announcement is mostly about voice chat. Players will be able to use Discord Voice on Xbox to access chat channels and party calls directly on their console. The process to get this all up and running is a little complicated – that might explain why this is a limited rollout – but it’s pretty simple.
To get started, you’ll need a Discord account and an Insiders invite to use it on Xbox. First, you link your Discord and Xbox accounts by turning on your console (Xbox One and Xbox Series hardware only) and heading to the “Games & Chats” menu. If you have access to it, you should see a “Try Discord Voice on Xbox” menu option listed here. The selection that opens a QR code that you will need to scan to start the linking process.
You can also manage this in Discord on PC or mobile by heading to the app’s settings menu and opening the “Connections” tab. To sign in to Microsoft, simply click on the Xbox logo at the top of the page and follow the instructions. Note that to access Discord Voice, you will still need to complete this login process if you have already connected your Xbox and Discord accounts.
Once done, you’re ready to join the chats (after a few more steps, sorry). Discord is very much tied to mobile startup, so you’ll need both Discord and Xbox apps installed on iOS Where both the Discord beta and Xbox apps installed on Android. You use the Discord app to join chats (which takes you to the Xbox app) and manage basic voice features such as Mute and Deafen.
These kinds of minor inconveniences are part of the fun and exciting adventure you sign up for when you help test unreleased software. Discord invites are not yet being sent to all Xbox Insiders accounts, but if you wish ultimatelyJoining Microsoft’s Early Access Program is as easy as installing the app.
The fact that Discord is coming to any console is a big moment in itself, and it’s sort of a coup for Microsoft. sony announced a Discord partnership on its own in March 2021. While account linking has been live for some time, the all-important rollout of voice chat support has yet to materialize on PlayStation. The Xbox release, however, could mean it’s happening sooner than anyone thinks.
UPDATE: July 20, 2022, 4:56 p.m. EDT Added clarification from Discord and Microsoft on how mobile apps are integrated into the chat setup and management process.
