Discord is the communications platform that enables you to build meaningful connections around the joy of playing games through voice, video, and text features. The Discord Story Discord was built to solve one problem: how to talk with friends while gaming together. But much like the protagonists of our favorite game stories, all journeys have their humble beginnings… Jason Citron establishes a new studio, Phoenix Guild, to help bring people together around games. Jason soon starts work on the studio’s first project, Fates Forever, a MOBA built specifically for mobile. Stanislav Vishnevskiy joins Jason as they continue working together on their upcoming mobile game. Phoenix Guild, now named Hammer & Chisel, launches Fates Forever to critical acclaim. Some of the game’s features, such as built-in voice chat, text chat and forums, help lay the groundwork for what’s next… Jason & Stan loved playing games but couldn’t find a reliable way to talk while playing online. Utilizing what they learned from building Fates Forever, the two release the first version of a new project: a gaming-focused chat app for desktop and mobile called "Discord." Discord launches an in-game overlay for PC, letting players interact with their friends without leaving their game, and adds a friends list to let people talk outside of servers. Discord’s official API launches for the first time, eventually powering hundreds of thousands of apps. Discord brings the power to voice call friends directly in DMs and Group DMs, and unleashes one of its most popular features of all time: the ability to upload and use custom emoji in servers. Discord introduces Discord Nitro, letting people support Discord and get some slick perks in return, including the power to use a server’s custom emoji anywhere and set an animated avatar. Discord, after long-awaited excitement and hype, releases video chat and screen share features to all users in DMs and Group DMs. Discord’s Rich Presence API releases, letting players display what they’re doing in-game, directly on Discord. Discord releases Go Live, letting players stream their favorite games to their server friends in just a few clicks. Plus, Server Boosting lets members come together to help unlock extra perks for their community. Discord teams up with PlayStation for account linking support, allowing people on Discord to show off what they’re playing on their PlayStation 5 console. Discord introduces voice chat support for PS5 consoles and reveals Activities, a way to play games directly in Discord. Plus, two audio-centric features are released: the Soundboard, letting users play sound clips during voice calls, and the power to send Voice Messages from mobile devices.

Discord doubles-down on its mission to be the best place to hang out before, during, and after playing games. Soon after, the App Launcher releases, letting people enjoy their favorite Activities anywhere on Discord. Discord starts powering the in-game text and voice chat of games directly, with two games being the first to support Discord chat: Pax Dei and Omega Strikers. Discord launches the Social SDK for game developers. Players can now link their Discord accounts and game accounts and unlock Discord-powered social features directly in some of their favorite games. Jason announces his transition from CEO to Board Member and Advisor, and Humam Sakhnini becomes Discord's new CEO. Sakhnini brings deep gaming industry experience from leadership roles at Activision Blizzard and King. Discord introduces Orbs, a virtual reward players can earn by completing Quests. Users collect Orbs and exchange them for ways to customize their profile, or even redeem them for Nitro, without spending any real-world money. Discord pilots Social Commerce with Marvel Rivals, enabling developers to sell in-game items to players with linked accounts directly within their official Discord servers and to integrate those purchases across Discord's social surfaces – player profiles, Wishlists, DMs, and voice chats. We’re continuing to make Discord the best, most reliable platform to talk and play for players on PC, mobile, and console. Perhaps some intergalactic domination on the side, who knows? What is discord? Watch the video to learn more about the social platform for all of gaming, where over 90 million friends and communities chat over text, voice, and video calls every day. Jason Citron, Founder and Stanislav Vishnevskiy, CTO Humam Sakhnini, Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Humam Sakhnini became Discord’s Chief Executive Officer in April 2025 after more than 15 years leading some of the largest businesses in gaming. Most recently, he served as Vice Chairman of Activision Blizzard, overseeing a multibillion-dollar portfolio that included Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush. Previously, as Activision Blizzard’s Chief Strategy and Talent Officer, he led the acquisition of King, the company behind Candy Crush, before becoming its President, succeeding the founding CEO and guiding the business to record performance. He began his career at Canada’s Department of Finance and spent eight years at McKinsey & Company, where he became a Partner in the Media and Entertainment practice. A Palestinian American born in Damascus and raised in Lebanon, Humam holds a BA in economics from Western University, an MA in economics from Queen’s University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. Shape the Future of Gaming with us We’re building Discord to be the perfect place to talk while playing games on any platform, no matter what device you play on.