{"id":8079,"date":"2017-08-10T18:56:37","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T18:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/discord-steals-gamers-from-skype-with-video-chat-and-screensharing.html"},"modified":"2017-08-10T18:56:37","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T18:56:37","slug":"discord-steals-gamers-from-skype-with-video-chat-and-screensharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/discord-steals-gamers-from-skype-with-video-chat-and-screensharing.html","title":{"rendered":"Discord steals gamers from Skype with video chat and screensharing"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Discord wants to destroy its biggest, best-funded competitor in the battle to be the communications layer for gaming. It wants to be the home for gamer clans strategizing and trash-talking with each other. After out-gunning its gaming-specific competitors like TeamSpeak, Mumble and Ventrilo with a secret $50 million fundraise earlier this year, Discord is setting its sights on Skype.<\/p>\n

Today Discord expands beyond text and voice with the launch<\/a> of video chat and screensharing. Now friends can watch each other play their favorite games while talking face-to-face. These features could further addict Discord\u2019s 45 million users, 9 million of whom use its web, desktop and mobile apps each day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is the most requested feature on Discord probably a year running,\u201d says CMO Eros Resmini. \u201cA lot of infrastructure had to be built up for this launch,\u201d he warns, though, since the video features run at a remarkably smooth and crisp 720p at 30 frames per second. Skype runs at half that FPS. My briefing with the company was held over its new video chat, and it looked much better than what\u2019s standard.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why only 5 percent of users will get video today, and it will only work with groups of up to 10 people. Embodying Discord\u2019s playful style, the company explains that \u201cIt\u2019s possible that we\u2019ll need to completely turn off video calls during this test. If you find the feature is missing all of a sudden, we suggest you lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling until it\u2019s fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the video launch goes smoothly, Discord could snatch gamers from its competitors that either lack video entirely, or do screensharing poorly like Skype, as they weren\u2019t built for conveying rapid-fire action with sharp graphics. One big thing that\u2019s lacking is sound from screenshares, which Discord will need to figure out.<\/p>\n

Video chat could be a stepping stone for Discord to start competing with massive one-to-many broadcasting channels like YouTube and Twitch.<\/p>\n

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From gamer to game developer to Discord<\/h2>\n

Discord was originally a game developer itself, making the critically acclaimed but publicly ignored mobile battle arena Fates Forever. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t figure out how to get over the hump on the monetization side,\u201d Resmini says. So in late 2014, it started tinkering with other ideas.<\/p>\n

CTO Stan Vishnevskiy had been dreaming of a tool like Discord. \u201cI played MMORPG [Massively multiplayer online role-playing games] 15 hours per day,\u201d he told me, and was dissatisfied with TeamSpeak and Mumble. Those required IP addresses that could be attacked by trolls, rented servers and clumsy apps. \u201cCan we make a 10X project? Low-friction usage, no renting servers, beautiful design we took from mobile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discord launched in May 2016 and has been a rocket ship ever since. It\u2019s now raised a total of $79 million, including the $50 million round led by Index Ventures in January 2017. The 70-employee startup now handles 200 million messages per day and up to 4 million concurrent users as groups chat about World of Warcraft, OverWatch, League of Legends and Clash Royale.<\/p>\n

The startup earns money from $5\/month subscriptions to its Nitro tier, which gives users cosmetic upgrades and a few bells and whistles. \u201cDiscord has made the promise to our user base of keeping the core Discord experience free,\u201d says Resmini. But the company is considering launching in-app purchases to enhance the new video features and earn some extra cash.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t equip the trolls<\/h2>\n

The company insists that the majority of its users are gamers chatting with small groups of friends, where someone calling someone else a colorful, profanity-laced name is more a joke than a harassment issue. But there are some larger public servers for entire sub-Reddits where people discuss topics beyond games, and Discord has unfortunately found itself used by hate groups to coordinate trolling and harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus on giving people tools and controls so they never get in a situation that they\u2019re with a stranger that\u2019s doing something you don\u2019t think is OK,\u201d says Resmini. \u201cYou can block folks, you can leave places, you can remain in a private space.\u201d The team also relies on users to report abuse to its team trained to quickly banish harassment, doxing and other problems.<\/p>\n

Some startups, like subscription crowdfunding platform Patreon, have taken a relatively permissive approach to dealing with hate-mongers, and decline to comment<\/a> on incendiary topics like Gamergate. That\u2019s why it was encouraging to hear Discord speak candidly about its disapproval of the alt-right and sexism in the gaming business.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir ideologies aren\u2019t welcome,\u201d Resmini declares. \u201cWe don\u2019t like people that act that way, people that harass people. We\u2019re on the side of gaming that\u2019s a positive community. That\u2019s an inclusive community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Still, Discord won\u2019t proactively jump in unless there are abuse reports. \u201cWe don\u2019t read people\u2019s private servers. We believe in privacy at Discord.\u00a0The censorship thing is something we\u2019ve stayed away from. We think it\u2019s a very slippery slope,\u201d Resmini admits. But once hatred surfaces, it\u2019s comfortable dealing out lifetime bans and deletions of servers.<\/p>\n

If Discord ever wants to become a mainstream communication tool for gaming culture that\u2019s grown increasingly popular worldwide, it has to keep things clean and friendly, even if that means friends laughing while they swear at each other. \u201cSome of the happiest times of my life have come from gaming,\u201d Vishnevskiy concludes. \u201cAnd things that make me happy, I want to bring to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/oP6SYwQOHf4\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discord wants to destroy its biggest, best-funded competitor in the battle to be the communications layer for gaming. It wants to be the home for gamer clans strategizing and trash-talking <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-8079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t