Xbox Dev Teases 'Really Exciting' Future For Discord Partnership

@Kaloudz It's the most used voice chat platform on PC.

Basically anyone can create a server where people can join and chat. And they can have text or voice channels in. This integration allows Xbox's to join the voice channels of a server.

If PS also integrates it, it means easy voice chat between Xbox, Playstation and PC players in cross-platform games. Without using Xbox Party Chat, which isn't very good against Discord. Even if you weren't playing together, it means you could just hang out with your PC and PS friends while they play other games and just chill out.

If you're familiar with the old days of IRC, Discord functions somewhat similarly, at least on the frontend.

I'm excited for games.....where are the games....apps are secondary

@mac01208 I completely agree with games being most important. Tools for connecting gamers is also important though.

Between the Xbox deal and the Playstation deal, it seems like Discord will be used as the solution for crossplay voice chat. Don't see Discord coming to Switch though as Nintendo did that NSO mobile app solution to voice chat.

@iplaygamesnstuff point awarded happy Friday mann

Let's have a game where the choices you make are made by the other users in a discord chat ,mix the both lol
Lets face it I know if I'm playing a game and chatting to ppl they are usually telling me what to do anyway

@dsar9012 Games aren't made 'overnight' and the 'big' AAA games - especially a polished and 'ready to release' title, takes 'years and years' to make.

If you look at Sucker Punch, they took 6yrs between releasing Infamous 2nd Son and Ghost of Tsushima. Horizon: Zero Dawn released nearly 5yrs after Killzone:SF and its sequel arrived 5yrs after Zero Dawn. Turn 10 have taken over 5yrs to completely rebuild Forza Motorsport. In fact, when FM7 released, studio's like Playground, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Obsidian etc were ALL still 'independent'. FM7 released in late 2017 and MS didn't start really building up their studio's until E3 2018...

Those studio's have released games - OK so not all were 'Exclusive' or AAA but they still had projects to finish and pre-existing agreements to honour.

From those that joined in 2018, we have seen them release We Happy Few just after announcing Compulsion were part of the MS family, the Outer Worlds (and DLC) in 2019, Grounded (beta) in 2020, Bleeding Edge (2020), RAD (2019), Psychonauts 2 (2021), Wastelands 3 (2020), Forza Horizon 4 (2018) and 5 (2021) as Playground joined in 2018. Undead Labs had just released State of Decay 2 (2018) 5yrs after State of Decay - 5yrs to make that 'sequel' and has only been with MS for 4yrs...

Apart from the Initiative, which was a brand new studio being set up from scratch, EVERY Studio has released 'something' in the past 4yrs.

As for Bethesda, they only officially joined in March 2021, that's 16months and its 'fortunate' that Bethesda and Arkane had a couple of games in development that MS can make 'exclusive'. Machinegames and id Software hadn't long released Wolfenstein and Doom: Eternal, Arkane Lyon and Tango both working on games that Sony bought some timed exclusivity for, so still releasing games since MS acquired them.

As I said, it takes time to build games - especially from scratch. None of the studio's has been at MS 'long' enough to have made the AAA games we know are in development, games like Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade 2, Avowed, Outer Worlds 2, State of Decay 3 etc. Forza will take over 5yrs to make - something 'relatively' easy as it doesn't require story writers, voice actors, script writers, concept artists, character development, mission writers, side quest writers etc etc. Environments and Vehicles are based on reality so have 'templates' to follow to make tracks, cars etc. Not saying its 'easy' either but its not like you have to balance combat and pacing, make a lot of cut-scenes and try and balance the pacing, variety and difficulty scaling for example.

In the 'year' between E3 2021 and E3 2022, MS studios released MSFS for Console, AoE4 for PC, Psychonauts 2, Halo Infinite, Deathloop, Forza Horizon 5 and Ghostwire Tokyo (Sony released H:FW & GT7). In the year E3 2022 to E3 2023, MS studio 'expect' to release Grounded, Pentiment, Minecraft Legends, Redfall, Forza Motorsport and Starfield. Sony are expecting to release 'GoW:R'. Of course some 'remasters' bulk out Sony's releases but as far as 'NEW' games, I'd say MS studio's have a higher output this generation than Sony - just that quite a few released on other platforms due to 'prior' agreements that were honoured.

I am NOT bashing any Publisher, it can't be easy over the past few years with pandemics, wars etc. Even if 'lockdowns' aren't enforced anymore, doesn't mean working conditions and staff are back to 'full speed' as people may get 'ill' and self Isolate and/or working from home which slows down production a lot. But even without these Global issues that self entitled gamers sat in their bubble can't acknowledge, Most AAA game studios these days are taking at least 4yrs to make their 'next' game (unless its a minor iterative upgrade of an annual Sports sim or 4+ Studio's helping to push out CoD every year but then IW, Treyarch and Sledgehammer have 3yrs between their turn and supported by ALL other A/B studios to push it out yearly. Unless you have a LOT of recurring assets (like a Car game with hundreds of cars, tracks etc carrying over) and of course systems, animations, audio etc, then its going to take more than 3yrs.

Point is, those 'new' studio's have released games over the past 4yrs already. Regardless of whether they were 'exclusive' to Xbox or NOT, they still had to finish off those projects. None of the Studio's have been at MS that long in terms of Game Development time and certainly not had the same time that Sucker Punch, Turn 10, Guerrilla, Polyphony (5yrs between GTS and GT7, 4years between GT6 and GTS) etc...

@mac01208 I have the opposite problem here..way too many games to play. With gamepass and PS plus, I'm overwhelmed with the amount of games to choose from.