In 2023, with over 5 billion internet users worldwide, 76% are involved in some form of online community. As more content, communication, and relationships shift online, the demand for user-friendly communication tools grows. While modern tools allow voice and text communication, these methods can fall short in interactive social experiences like gaming. Some tools consume excessive processing power, reducing gaming performance, while others (like Slack and Microsoft Teams) are not optimized for gaming, potentially disrupting the experience. More importantly, most modern digital communication tools struggle with poor integration with other apps.
The rise of remote work has further increased the demand for online communication and meeting spaces. In 2019, before the pandemic, Slack had about 12 million users; by 2023, this number grew to approximately 54.1 million active users, most of which were used for work collaboration. Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams saw a similar surge in users, rising from 20 million in 2019 to 300 million in 2023. This workplace trend mirrors the overall growth in online activity, such as the gaming sector. In 2019, the number of global gamers was estimated at 2.6 billion; by 2023, this number increased to 3.2 billion.
Discord is an online communication platform used by both businesses and gamers. It aims to enhance digital communication and help users build online communities around their interests. By offering a "Community as a Service" product, Discord allows everyone—from gamers to athletes to social media influencers—to create and manage their own communities.
Jason Citron (CEO) and Stanislav Vishnevskiy (CTO) founded Discord in 2015. Citron’s journey with personal computers began in the early 1980s. He recalls that the first time he played Super Mario Brothers, he thought it was "the most amazing thing I had ever seen." At 13, Citron taught himself the QBASIC programming language and, with his friend's help, created his first text-based role-playing game (RPG). With his father being an entrepreneur, Citron quickly realized that he could build a business to help older people solve their computer problems. By the time he was 16, he was already working part-time writing code for websites.
At 23 years old, Citron founded a video game studio and launched a game on the very first day of the iPhone App Store's opening in 2008. While the game was not commercially successful, Citron later pivoted the company to create OpenFeint, a social network platform designed like “Xbox Live for the iPhone.” In 2011, the Japanese gaming company Gree acquired OpenFeint for $104 million.
Citron used the proceeds from selling OpenFeint to establish another game studio, Hammer & Chisel, in 2012. The studio developed an online multiplayer game called Fates Forever, similar to League of Legends. The game included voice and text chat features, allowing players to communicate during gameplay. Despite Fates Forever’s commercial failure, the team shifted focus and began developing a dedicated chat service for gamers, which eventually became Discord in 2018.
After gaining initial success in gaming-related subreddits on Reddit, Discord quickly became popular among esports and LAN tournament players. As its influence grew within these core gaming communities, Discord benefited from close connections with Twitch streamers and popular game subreddits like Diablo and World of Warcraft, which helped accelerate its expansion in the gaming world.
Discord is a free messaging and voice chat application available on desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux) and mobile devices (iOS, Android). The platform is well-known for being the preferred communication tool among gamers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Discord became the primary communication platform for many online communities. Beyond gamers, investors, developers, content creators, and businesses have also adopted Discord to facilitate communication.
Discord is a multifunctional voice chat and instant messaging social platform that works across PC, smartphones, and web browsers. Users can communicate via voice calls, video calls, text messages, and file sharing. Conversations can take place in private chats or within larger communities known as "servers."
Initially designed as a communication tool for gamers, Discord has evolved to serve various communities, from anime and tech enthusiasts to investors and educators. Its appeal lies in its casual, user-friendly design. Unlike traditional voice call systems, Discord's voice channels don’t require dialing or sharing links/passwords — users can simply join a channel to start participating in the conversation.
"A space on computers and phones where it feels like your friends are right next to you, where you can casually meet them, chat, and hang out."This easy, instant interaction experience has made Discord a platform that extends beyond gaming, gaining popularity across diverse communities.
Server boosting refers to users adding specific extra features to a Discord server. All server boosts are divided into three levels, with each level offering more privileges than the previous one.
Discord offers a paid subscription service called Nitro, which provides several benefits. Users can enjoy perks such as multiple profile avatars, custom emojis and stickers, two server boosts, the ability to upload larger files (up to 100MB), and higher video resolution. The Nitro subscription costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Recently, Discord introduced a basic option priced at $2.99/month. Additionally, Discord offers Nitro Classic, a subscription that includes core Nitro chat features but excludes server boosts. Nitro Classic allows users to upload GIF avatars, choose a custom Discord tag, use custom emojis, boost video quality to 1080p @ 30fps or 720p @ 60fps, and increase the file upload limit from 8MB to 50MB.
As of 2023, Discord has approximately 390 million users, with 150 million active monthly users. These users are spread across 19 million active weekly servers, covering a wide range of topics such as gaming, investment, politics, anime, and more. Originally, Discord served the gaming community, providing features like real-time voice chat to facilitate communication during multiplayer gaming. However, by June 2020, Discord had evolved, branding itself as the “Slack for social lives.”
In 2010, there were around 2 billion internet users globally, with only 17% participating in online communities, totaling about 340 million members. Today, the number has grown to over 5 billion internet users, with 76% of them participating in online communities, totaling over 3 billion members. Among these 3 billion community members, 1.8 billion use Facebook Groups. Tools like Discord still have significant room for growth in market penetration.
The global market for gaming live streaming and communication was estimated at $9.5 billion in 2021. Among Discord's users, 70% of monthly active users (MAUs) engage in game-related interactions. As Discord continues to expand beyond the gaming niche, it is poised to broaden its addressable market by attracting new user segments. For instance, 1 billion people traded cryptocurrency in 2022, or communities with over 1 million users in verticals like reading, music, parenting, genealogy, food, and pop culture.
The global social networking market is expected to exceed $900 billion by 2026. In the early days of the internet, users sought broad access to information. However, this trend is changing. Facebook's user count saw a decline for the first time in 2022. As the online experience matures, users are increasingly inclined to join smaller, more niche communities focused on personal interests. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, acknowledged this shift at a recent developer conference:
"I believe the future is private. We should have private ways to message, group, pay, and share our location — the private side of social networks will be more important than the public digital square."Discord operates on a freemium model, keeping chat and messaging services free while expanding its premium offerings. Its revenue comes from three primary sources: Nitro subscriptions, game distribution, and server boosts.
In 2017, Discord launched its Nitro subscription service. Nitro is a premium subscription priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. A more affordable version, Nitro Classic, is available for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Nitro provides various premium features, including personalized profiles, custom emojis, larger file upload limits, higher resolution video/audio, and discounts on server boosts. Nitro has become one of Discord’s main revenue sources. According to Forbes estimates in 2020, about 1 million users had subscribed to Nitro.
In 2018, Discord launched its own game store, attempting to compete with platforms like Steam. The store, which was available exclusively to Nitro subscribers, offered titles like Dead Cells and Into the Breach. However, the store failed to gain enough traction and was shut down within a year.
Discord quickly pivoted, adopting a new model where it partnered with game developers to host their games exclusively on Discord servers. Unlike traditional game distribution platforms, Discord offers game developers a unique opportunity to build a community while developing their games. Developers can sell their games directly to community members during the development process.
Additionally, Discord offers a suite of business tools that help game developers sell their games via certified servers and take a 10% commission on sales. This model is similar to how Shopify helps online businesses grow. Game studios can track community metrics, analyze data, perform attribution tracking, and run private Alpha or Beta tests using Discord’s tools.
Server boosts enable communities to enhance the functionality and performance of their Discord servers. Servers can be boosted to one of three levels, each unlocking additional perks. The cost for each server boost is $4.99 per month. As mentioned earlier, Nitro subscribers receive a 30% discount on server boosts.
In 2020, real-time voice chat became a trend on social media, and Discord was at the heart of this shift. During the pandemic, Discord saw a massive surge in users, with its monthly active users increasing from 56 million in 2019 to over 150 million in 2021. A large portion of this growth came from Generation Z users, primarily teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18.
As of January 2023, Discord had reached a total of 560 million registered users. The company’s revenue grew from $115 million in 2019 to $428 million in 2022. However, as of June 2023, Discord has not yet reached profitability.
In September 2021, Discord raised $500 million in a Series H funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, bringing the company’s valuation to $15 billion—a valuation 40 times its revenue of $373 million in 2021.
As of June 2023, Discord has raised a total of $995.4 million in funding, with investors such as Index Ventures, Benchmark, and Tencent. Notably, Tencent has invested in Discord in three separate funding rounds.
In 2020, Discord shifted from being a platform primarily for gamers to a more broadly focused community platform. It expanded into areas like anime, tech, education, investment, and cryptocurrency, tapping into a larger market. By no longer limiting itself to gaming communities, Discord opened itself up to a wider potential audience of online communities.
With the current AI wave, Discord has an opportunity to generate revenue through chatbots. There are already over 3 million bots built on Discord’s API, which help manage and interact with server members, offering time-saving and enhanced community experiences. Discord can capitalize on this by charging for bot services and creating a more centralized bot marketplace to boost revenue growth.
Discord has already enabled microtransactions within game publishing on its platform, but there’s significant room for expansion. For instance, some communities run VIP servers where users pay monthly fees for exclusive stock trading advice. However, if these transactions are processed through third-party integrations like PayPal, Twitch, or Patreon, Discord misses out on revenue share opportunities. Building direct payment integrations within Discord represents a key opportunity to fully monetize microtransactions on the platform.
Despite opportunities for microtransactions, Discord has struggled with monetizing its large user base. The monetization rate remains relatively low, posing a significant risk. If Discord fails to effectively extract value from its user base, its revenue growth will remain limited, ultimately affecting its overall profitability.
With millions of active users across diverse communities, Discord inevitably faces content moderation issues. To address these, Discord:
In 2023, Discord continues to lead as a versatile platform for both gaming and non-gaming communities. By offering tools that enhance communication through voice, text, and video, as well as the ability to create and manage custom servers, Discord has expanded its user base beyond gamers to encompass investors, creators, and educators. Its evolution reflects the growing demand for interactive, community-driven spaces in the online world. Despite challenges in monetization and content moderation, Discord's strong foundation and continued innovation ensure it remains a major player in the digital communication landscape.
What is Discord used for?
Discord is a free messaging and voice chat platform primarily used for communication in gaming communities. Over time, it has expanded to include various other communities such as tech enthusiasts, educators, and investors.
What are the main features of Discord?
Key features include voice and video calls, text messaging, server creation, and real-time game streaming. Discord also allows users to add bots for enhanced functionality within servers.
What is Discord's Nitro subscription?
Discord Nitro is a paid subscription service that offers benefits such as custom emojis, higher audio and video quality, larger file uploads, and discounts on server boosting.
How does Discord support gaming communities?
Discord provides lag-free game streaming, real-time voice communication during gameplay, and dedicated servers for gaming communities to hang out and communicate seamlessly.
What is server boosting in Discord?
Server boosting allows users to enhance their server’s features by unlocking additional privileges like custom backgrounds, more emoji slots, and higher audio quality. Server boosting is available through Nitro subscriptions.
How has Discord expanded beyond gaming?
Discord initially focused on gamers but now serves a wide variety of communities, including those focused on anime, tech, education, and even business and investment discussions.
Is Discord free?
Yes, Discord is free to use, but it also offers premium features through its Nitro subscription service for those who want additional perks.