Xbox Users on Discord Can Finally Feel More Connected to Friends on PCs

Discord is giving Xbox console users more of the features already available for PC and Mac users, like viewing live streams and starting direct calls. Your Xbox friend list will now also include your Discord friends, and you’ll be able to see what your friends are up to through Discord’s “Happening Now” tab, the company announced Wednesday.

Discord live streams on Xbox can be accessed by navigating to the conversation’s member list in the Xbox guide. Selecting “Watch Stream” on the user’s profile will open their live stream full-screen on your Xbox, meaning you can get a TV-sized view of your friends’ latest plays.

Xbox gamers with Discord will now also be able to see more information about their friends already available on other platforms, like mutual servers or gamer tags. Xbox Insiders will get access to these new Discord features first, with a full rollout soon.

Discord’s latest features for Xbox will help console players feel more a part of friend groups where some gamers might be on Discord via other platforms, like PCs or PlayStation. Discord, launched in 2015, rolled out to Xbox and PlayStation relatively recently: Xbox got Discord in 2022, and PlayStation saw it added in early 2023.

Discord’s expanded features on Xbox. (Credit: Discord)

Before that, console gamers had to use Discord’s iOS or Android app and chat with friends on speakerphone. To get started with Discord on PlayStation or Xbox, you’ll first have to link your Discord account to your console.

While cross-platform gaming has been around for a while, Discord’s finally catching up with its cross-platform chat app. Last month, Sony announced that Discord users with PS5s could now join voice calls with friends directly through the console itself instead of having to use a mobile device as an intermediary.