How the PlayStation-Discord partnership will bring Social Media Closer Together
PlayStation partners with Discord
Sony’s PlayStation console, with the recent release of the historic PS5, has just changed the landscape of Gaming and Social Media by forming a partnership with Discord. The investment from Sony is part of a $100m Discord Series H funding round.
How did we get here?
Before we look at what this partnership means for the Gaming and Social Media industry, let’s take a look at how we got here in the first place.
Why PlayStation wants (and needs) Discord
PlayStation has been very clear and transparent with its corporate strategy: give users an abundance of exclusive, epic single-player stories.
However, centering the community around single-player, narrative-driven games exclusive to the console, has made it challenging for PlayStation to connect gamers with other gamers. PlayStation Communities, a supposed answer to this problem, launched in 2015 but never caught traction the way PlayStation hoped. PlayStation Communities was shut down in April 2021.
Shortly after the closure of Communities, PlayStation announce their partnership with Discord:
At PlayStation, we’re constantly looking for new ways to enable players around the world to connect with one another, form new friendships and communities, and share fun experiences and lasting memories. It’s in this spirit that we’re excited to announce a new partnership with Discord …
Together, our teams are already hard at work connecting Discord with your social and gaming experience on PlayStation Network. Our goal is to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together.
PlayStation, disappointed in their in-house solution Communities, goes all-in on Discord to bring the PlayStation community closer together.
Discord finding itself (and sticking to itself)
Since launching in 2015, Discord reached 10 million monthly active users in just 2 years. By 2020, 5 years after its release, the number of monthly users grew to 100 million.
Starting out as a community for gamers, in 2020, Discord began to move away from this focus and try to reach a broader audience. This caught the attention of Microsoft’s Xbox and was reportedly in talks to purchase Discord for $10 Billion.
However, Discord turned down the Xbox acquisition offer and a few weeks later, agreed to a partnership with PlayStation. Sticking to their roots as a community platform for gamers.
What this tells us about the future
What does PlayStation partnering with Discord for the community tell us about the future of gaming and social media?
Balance of Gaming
Sony’s PlayStation, focusing on single-player narratives, has grown to realize (the hard way) the importance of community connection.
Microsoft’s Xbox, focusing on multiplayer experiences, has grown to realize (also the hard way) the importance of exclusive games. So much so, as to acquire Bethesda Studios for $7.5 Billion, for the purpose of growing their Game Pass selection.
Balance of Social Media
With PlayStation partnering with Discord, Facebook acquiring OculusVR, and Microsoft looking for their next acquisition; Gaming and Social Media have never been as interconnected as they are today.
With the Gaming community being more involved with Social Media, the natural question is what does this tell us about the future? How does Social Media change from being so connected with gaming? How will Social Media balance its platform to accommodate the influx of this new gamer content?
One way is to balance the global feed with a more small-group, intimate experience. A Clubhouse-like room for your Instagram squad or Twitch subscribers, for example. A private timeline for your circle of people, perhaps.
However Social Media responds to this change, and whatever solution they end up implementing, a main reason behind it will be to balance the platform from mass produced content, to a more personalized one. Only time will tell how the waves of gaming innovation will change the status quo of Social Media.
There is not secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.”
–Frank Herbert