Microsoft and Discord are greatly improving the integration of the communication platform on Xbox consoles. While you’ve been able to stream your game to friends over Discord since last year, you’ll soon be able to watch your friends’ streams, whether they’re streaming the game from a PC, a cell phone, or an Xbox.
Xbox Insiders will be the first to get access to viewing Discord streams today, with the feature appearing in Discord voice calls and the “happening now” Friends section of the Xbox dashboard. If your friends are chatting or streaming on a Discord server, the channel will also be shown in this section.
Just like watching streams in the Discord app, you’ll be able to mute a friend’s stream or control the volume with the Xbox integration. The stream itself will open full screen, but natively in the Xbox dashboard experience and will not require a separate app.
Xbox and Discord integration is also being improved to support direct calls to friends, so you don’t have to join a Discord server call to chat. Microsoft and Discord are also improving the information you see about Discord friends on Xbox, with the ability to see mutual servers and friends, and Xbox gamertags.
Sony also recently improved its Discord integration on the PS5 to finally allow owners to join voice calls directly from the console. The PS5 version does not yet have the ability to stream the game to friends or watch friends’ streams.