In brief: Discord has significantly boosted its functionality throughout the year to improve accessibility for gamers and increase revenue. This week, a new update introduced additional features and upgraded how the app tracks users' gaming sessions; the Discord friends list is beginning to resemble Steam's.
This week's Discord client update allows users to view which games their friends have recently played. Additionally, other changes have expanded the service's connectivity with other gaming networks.
Previously, Discord would only broadcast which game a user is currently playing while logged into the chat app, allowing friends to watch streams or join multiplayer sessions. Following the August 28 update, each user's profile displays a list of titles played over the last 30 days, showing stats on how frequently each game is played.
The activity log appears in each profile on a tab next to the "About Me" section. To hide the log, navigate to User Settings > Activity Settings > Activity Privacy > Activity Status, and toggle off the selection called "Share your detected activities with others."
Moreover, the latest update enables Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers to play music and podcasts over text chats and voice calls through Amazon's Listening Party feature. The activity log also tracks playback history from Amazon Music. Some users can unlock a three-month Amazon Music trial through the Discord app.
Discord has also recently received enhanced integration with Xbox consoles. This week's update enables Xbox users to see active voice channels and view which games their friends are playing.
The upgrade adds to the functionality that Discord introduced for Xbox consoles last month. Users can now watch streams, join voice chat channels, and call friends on the console without needing the mobile app. Discord announced plans to bring direct calling to the PlayStation 5 in June.
Additionally, Roll20 became the latest gaming platform to gain Discord connectivity. Users can now link their accounts to the online tabletop service to run campaigns, access games, and view character stats within Discord.
This week's update also adds a highly-requested feature – the ability to resize the picture-in-picture window. The recent upgrades follow a push to increase Discord's profitability that began earlier this year. After claiming to have reached over 200 million monthly users, the company revealed plans for an IPO, reversed its no-ads policy, and introduced sponsored promotions to drive revenue.
Discord is now logging your recent gaming activity, making it visible to friends
