When Did Discord Get Popular? The Inside Story

Discord has become a cornerstone of communication and hangout time for millions of users worldwide, welcoming gamers, content creators, influencers,  musicians, crafters, coders, and various communities.

But what’s Discord all about, and how did it achieve its rise to popularity?  

Discord is a communication app that allows users to hang out and message each other using text, voice, and video channels.

You can access Discord through a web browser, on a wide range of mobile platforms (iOS and Android), and also as a standalone desktop app.

On a Discord server (servers can be created by individuals, groups, organizations, or businesses), you’ll find collections of chat rooms and voice rooms arranged into a tidy menu of channels, usually specifying the topic of each room, for instance, General Chat, Announcements, and Movie Chat. 

Discord is especially useful to creators who want to build communities around their content. Many Discord users belong to multiple communities, making friends and supporting the creators they enjoy.  

Discord’s user-friendly interface and features, such as text chat, voice chat, screen sharing, sound reactions, app integrations, high-level moderation features, forums, “Stage” channels for special events, and even subscription offerings, have made it a favorite for creators of all types.

Why Discord Stands Out

From its beginnings as an app primarily for gamers to its current status as a multifaceted communication hub, Discord’s story is one of innovation, adaptability, and community-driven growth. 

Part of Discord’s success is paying attention to the features that its users wanted. Over time, it introduced more functional and intuitive features.

Unlike many chat platforms, Discord offers text chat, voice channels, and screen sharing all in one place. Combine that with an easy-to-use interface and Discord’s affordability ($2.99/mo. for the basic plan, $9.99/mo. for Discord Nitro), and Discord quickly stood out from similar competitors like Skype, Slack, and TeamSpeak. 

Discord Nitro offered Discord users a long list of exclusive perks like custom emojis and stickers, higher-quality screen sharing, and increased upload limits, rapidly becoming an in-demand tool for growing communities and fan bases. Let’s learn about how it all started!

Now, let’s learn how it all started!

How It All Began 

The origins of Discord actually started as OpenFeint, which was a social gaming platform for mobile games, as founded by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy.

While working on OpenFeint and several subsequent gaming projects, Citron observed that the voiceover software available at the time was limited, with few features and cumbersome interfaces. 

Recognizing this gap, he decided to create a chat service designed specifically for users and multiplayer gaming sessions, ensuring it could deliver both ease of use and strong performance.

Releasing Discord in May 2015, Citron’s visionary app rapidly gained popularity due to its free core features, a combination of robust text communication and voice channels, and the ability for users to set up custom Discord servers.

Early Growth

Initially targeted solely at gamers, Discord attracted a dedicated user base of gaming enthusiasts who were tired of outdated alternatives like TeamSpeak and Skype.

By offering superior voice chat quality and customizable server options, Discord quickly became the go-to platform for online gaming communities.

Discord features like screen sharing and low-latency voice channels helped distinguish it from competitors, and the absence of ad interruptions made It even more appealing.

Between 2016 and 2017, Discord raised more funding, including an investment from TimeWarner and support from Microsoft for Xbox Live users. The platform also began to partner with esports teams and gaming influencers, significantly boosting its visibility.

These collabs introduced Discord to new audiences and a long list of streaming gamers, turning it into a staple for online gaming communication.

Discord’s Turning Points 

During the late 2010s, Discord’s ascent hit several key milestones:

• 2016-2017: As mentioned above, those partnerships with esports teams and gaming events exposed Discord to a truly global audience. Discord’s ability to create private, secure servers made it ideal for team coordination during gaming tournaments.
• 2018: Discord Nitro arrived and provided users with premium subscription features like animated emoji, higher-quality voice chat, and server boosting. This monetization model allowed Discord to still remain ad-free, while offering valuable, entertaining upgrades to its most dedicated users.
• 2020-2023: The early years of the COVID-19 pandemic were the next real game-changers for Discord. With people seeking virtual spaces to connect, the platform saw a massive influx of users and started expanding well beyond gamers. From musician fan groups and hangout communities for Twitch and YouTube streamers to student study groups, science forums, and book clubs, Discord servers suddenly became important hubs for social interaction of all kinds.

Discord’s Role in the Gaming Community Discord’s initial focus on gaming was truly instrumental in its growth.

Gaming communities quickly thrived on Discord servers, using voice chat and screen sharing to enhance their multiplayer experiences, especially when live streaming on Twitch and YouTube.

Discord’s ability to host multiplayer events made it indispensable for gamers.

‍ Even as Discord expanded beyond gaming, its roots in the gaming community remained a core part of its identity.

Popular gaming influencers and Twitch streamers helped spread the word, turning their audiences into loyal Discord users and building communities and fan groups right on their Discord servers.

Expanding Horizons

While Discord’s foundation was built on gaming, its appeal quickly extended to other niches. Musicians, actors, study groups, educators, hobby enthusiasts, and professional organizations began using Discord for its versatile communication tools. 

Discord features like screen sharing and voice channels make it ideal for virtual classrooms and remote work. These features assisted Discord’s continued growth, as it became known as a platform for hanging out and talking as much as for gaming. 

Discord Stages, a recent addition, has expanded Discord’s usefulness even more.

Stages are a specialty voice channel that allows a few users at a time to speak while the rest of the participants listen as the audience. They are perfect for AMAs, Q&A sessions, or live performances and have helped diversify the platform even more.

Discord Nitro has also been pivotal to Discord’s continuing success.

By introducing a sustainable revenue model that benefits both users and the platform (with exclusive perks like higher-quality screen sharing, custom emojis, and server boosts) Nitro both enhanced the user experience and supported Discord’s growth.

It’s become especially popular among content creators, streamers, and other entertainment talent seeking to optimize their Discord servers and offer their fans a rich community environment.

Discord’s Key Features 

Several standout features help drive Discord’s popularity, contributing to the platform’s success: 

• Voice Channels: Discord’s high-quality, low-latency voice chat really revolutionized communication for gamers.
• Screen Sharing: Screen sharing was another game-changer for Discord. Users utilized it for gaming streams, but they also used it for collaborative projects or simply connecting with friends.
• Customizable Servers: Users could create spaces tailored to their community’s needs, with multiple channels, topics, and both text and voice hangout spaces; the ability to do this in such a richly-featured way is unique to Discord. 
• Discord Nitro: Premium Discord Nitro features like enhanced video quality, server boosts, and exclusive emojis and stickers elevated the experience; the ability to integrate external apps and customize a soundboard made using Discord even more entertaining.
• Moderation: Discord’s robust security settings and moderation options helped users keep their online community spaces safe, with the ability to monitor conversations for safety and easily remove bad actors.
• Cross-Platform Accessibility: Discord’s compatibility with mobile, desktop, and web ensured seamless communication for all users.

How to Make Discord Work For You 

Whether you’re a gamer, content creator, influencer, musician, actor, crafter, coder, or educator, there’s a place for you on Discord, and so many ways to maximize Discord to grow your community!

Focus on the needs of your target users (as Jason Citron did with gamers) and set up your Discord server with channels that easily direct users to different topics.

This will make it easy for them to engage with other users, have conversations, and build friendships. Encouraging users to Boost your server can unlock even more features for your Discord community to enjoy.

Use your Discord server to keep your fans and community members updated about what you or your organization are doing.

You can add custom emoji and stickers (with Discord Nitro), offer event “pings” that notify users that an event is about to happen, set up special channels solely for important community announcements, host gaming or hangout nights with text or voice chat (Discord even has its own list of in-app games for users to play now), or hold a Stage event.

Most of all, make your Discord users feel welcome! You can invite new people directly to your Discord server with Discord invite links and set up “welcome rooms” for introductions and to inform them about your server's guidelines.

Greet new fans when they join your Discord and make it easy for them to navigate.

Of course, make sure you set up announcement channels and/or pings to let everyone know when you’re streaming or hosting any type of event that they can attend and participate in.  

Social networks and streaming platforms may change over time, but your Discord can be a reliable central location for everyone who enjoys your content and wants to support you!

Maximize Your Discord Community with Fourthwall! 

For creators looking to complement Discord’s success, Fourthwall offers even more powerful tools to further monetize and engage your communities.

Fourthwall features include customized websites and storefronts, easy-to-design custom merch, social media tools, and exclusive extras for your most devoted fans.

These features work beautifully alongside Discord, allowing server owners to build thriving, profitable, full-featured communities.  

Get started on Fourthwall today and unlock the full power of your fan base and your potential!