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Discord no longer doubles as a game launcher as two non-core features get the axe

Part of the decision to cut features comes from Discord's desire to zero in on its core purpose and focus on offering utilities that "don't make [Discord] bulky and take away from the core chat experience."

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

January 30, 2020

1 Min Read
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Moving forward, Discord will no longer double as a game launcher via the Library or offer snippets of video game news through the Activity Feed, a decision made after feedback showed neither feature was quite pulling its weight.

Part of the decision to cut both features comes from Discord’s desire to zero in on its core purpose and focus on offering utilities that “don’t make [Discord] bulky and take away from the core chat experience.”

Some of the features from the now-axed Activity Feed have been replaced by the Channel Following feature that lets developers and publishers push announcements from their Verified or Partnered server to a dedicated, customizable feed.

The other cut, Discord’s Library section, represents the platform’s recent pivot away from its brief time as a digital game platform. It follows months after the company removed free games from its Discord Nitro game subscription program after the realization that no one was really playing those games anyway.

About the Author

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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