Whether you use it for gaming or just connecting with friends, Discord has become a popular choice for people who want a place to hang out, chat, and play with their friends. So, many people wonder how long it has been around and when it became so popular. 

When Did Discord Get Popular?

Discord started to become more popular in 2018 as streaming and online gaming began to rapidly grow. The platform has also experienced annual user increases since its inception in 2015. However, in 2020, it saw another peak of popularity because more people spent time at home.

In this article, I’ll talk more about the popularity of Discord, what made it so popular, and what we can expect for the future of Discord. 

Why Did Discord Get So Popular?

After its creation, Discord became popular because it was a convenient way for gamers and streamers to convene, chat, and play together. Since then, Discord has gotten popular as a way for friends and family to come together and communicate easily. 

Unlike many other similar ventures, Discord was popular almost instantly. Before Discord, gamers and streamers didn’t have an easy way to meet up and chat with their friends unless it was through in game chat.

Discord was created to allow people to communicate while playing without taking up too much bandwidth and possibly slowing down the game.

The next big move after the inception of Discord was their integration with Xbox. Xbox announced in 2018 that the two companies would be working together to allow users to connect their Discord server with their Xbox live accounts.

This made it a lot easier to find friends on Discord as the two accounts were now linked. 

The final jump in popularity for Discord came from Covid-19. As many people were required to lockdown during the pandemic, people looked for new ways to stay in touch with friends and family.

Discord offers many different ways to communicate, from text chat, to voice chat, and even video chat. So, it is no surprise that it has become a popular method of communication for so many. 

The popularity that came in 2020 was so intense that it convinced the owners of Discord to change its slogan from “Chat for Gamers” to their current slogan, “Chat for Communities and Friends.” 

I myself began using Discord for not only gaming, but also to stay in touch with my streaming community. Discord is awesome for building a strong community.

Is Discord Still Growing?

Discord is still growing in popularity. In fact, it is currently larger than ever. With 140 million active users this year, Discord is seeing its biggest year yet and showing no signs of slowing down. 

Discord has continued to grow since its inception in 2015. 2020 saw the biggest jump in active users from 56 million to 100 million, but 2021 has only continued to add to more.

With the consistent growth in popularity, Discord has certainly garnered the attention of many investors who continue to fund its growth. 

A big part of the continued growth of Discord is the fact that they consistently adapt to what their users want. The integration with Xbox that we discussed above is a prime example of Discord knowing and listening to their audience. 

Beyond the deal with Xbox, Discord has also recognized that their users have changed in the last year or two because of the complications that Covid-19 brought into everyday lives in regards to communicating with others.

From changing their slogan to making their app work better for general conversations, Discord is certainly paying attention to their audience. 

What Does The Future Of Discord Look Like?

The future of Discord looks promising. Not only does streaming and online gaming continue to grow, but Covid-19 forced many people to become accustomed to communicating with family and friends online which only helps fuel the growth of Discord.

When it comes to the future of Discord, the numbers don’t lie. It’s hard to say that the future of Discord looks anything but bright after reviewing the numbers as we did above.

Consistent growth in users, investors, and app activity are just a few things that point to a fine future for Discord. So, where could it go wrong? 

Well, one of the first hits that Discord has taken was the Groovy bot. If you are a Discord user, you remember Groovy. This bot could be added to your server and would play any song of your choice on command in whatever voice channel you occupied.

Having Groovy available to users meant that people would have more reasons to stick around in your server. 

We lost Groovy earlier this year after Google decided to pull it. Groovy pulled music from free platforms like YouTube and Spotify to provide music to people on Discord at no cost.

Google claimed that using Groovy commercialized Discord servers. Groovy was loved among users because it was free, on-demand, and you didn’t have to sit through any ads. 

With the loss of Groovy, many users found a replacement bot, but the loss did force many to question how long all the things we love about Discord can really last.

One of the biggest differences between Discord and other platforms is that Discord doesn’t do advertisements. You can chat all day with friends and family without being interrupted by a pesky ad. But how long will this last?

We have seen similar companies overtaken by ads which greatly increase their revenue. You can’t scroll through Facebook, Instagram, or even Twitter without seeing an ad pop up on your feed.

So, how long before Discord jumps on the train? And who could blame them? Money is money, and they don’t ask for money from their users. 

So, the future of Discord may see some changes when it comes to revenue and what we see when we log in. Right now, we don’t have to fight our way through ads to chat with our friends, but that may change in the future.

If it does, users may start to decline as there wouldn’t be much that sets Discord apart from other platforms. But only time will tell.

Discord got popular very quickly after being created because it was exactly what gamers were looking for. Since then, it has only grown in the number of people who want to stay connected easily to their friends and family.

It is hard to pinpoint one time in its history that Discord got popular because it has continued to grow since 2015. 

Sources

• Mashable: What Is Discord, The Popular Community Chat App?
• Wikipedia: Discord (Software)
• Business of Apps: Discord Revenue and Usage Statistics (2021)
• PC Gamer: Please Enjoy Discord While It’s Still Good