Discord is launching a new Games Tab that aims to transform the chat app into a more rounded out game-centric platform.
The update rolling out today introduces a hub for both launching games and seeing what other Discord users are up to, potentially giving developers a more visible way their games to be discovered by new players on the social platform.
In a short video explaining the new page, Discord notes that it was previously cumbersome for users to see what games their friends were playing if they were in a ton of different servers or had a sizable friends list. This update hopes to address that by creating a one-stop-hub for keeping up with whatever games are being played by friends and servermates on Discord.
That page is stockpiled with things like news and updates about a user's favored games, a list of titles currently being played on either PC or Xbox One by friends or other sever members, and an overall look at what games friends have been playing recently.
One of the notable new features included in the Games Tab now means that Discord doubles as a game launcher as well. There’s a quick launcher near the top of the page that now lets players start games directly from the hub itself, and the page works in tandem with the discord’s Rich Presence dev tool to allow players to join in on game sessions right from the Games tab.
The update itself notably makes Discord a little bit more like Steam in that players can now easily launch and join friends in games sessions through the app itself. Interestingly enough, Valve also recently announced an update, but one that introduces a fair number of Discord-like features into the social side Steam.
