The gaming community on Discord, called the world’s leading communications platform that tends to be used by them [gamers] all over the planet, issued to the Securities and Exchange Commission with regard to the very beginning of procedures toward their possible U.S. initial public offering (IPO). Besides, as per Bloomberg (in a report published by it), it was not available for viewing to the eyes of the media, considering only the Commission having received an obscure application very privately and guaranteeing that conventional availability of financial data and particular schedule were thereby subverted. Much to the disbelieving dream about the gamers, still, Discord has kept silence upon their filing, thereby leaving first-figure gamers pondering the real significance of such a huge financial step to the development of the application in the future.
Let us break it down as it is. First, Discord IPO filing? Now they are going to become a publicly-traded company and sell shares of their company in the stock market. They usually “secretly” settle the deal—they sort out the tough financial docs behind doors, then finally after coming to a conclusion with things, they make it a public thing. I believe that worked for them, but it’s kind of a scare for the rest of us who spend our whole day on Discord servers.
This is what everyone has been afraid of: a people-centric platform turning fearful of shareholders! The very first reaction online, and I honestly mean just check the comments beneath the article, was pure fear. A few believe that this is the end. User Priv8Code was very straightforward: “Discord about to get unusable in order to chase profits.” Ouch! But is that really incorrect to say? A huge number of responses come across as being a bit of side-eye.
Gamers are bracing for the worst. JohnsAdventures put together a nightmare checklist: “AKA horrible Ads, several ‘premium’ tiers of subscriptions, and surprise mechanics (Lootbox gambling) coming to Discord soon!” So Discord Quests have been transformed into nightmarish clamor for ad-filled quests or ever multiplying power-up subscription tiers. Mr. Konsole said, in his simplest words, “It’s high time for Discord Ads to be a real thing.” Picture this: you open Discord, and before you can even glance at the list of who is online, you have to sit through a pre-roll for some shitty mobile game. No thank you!
Thus, the gnawing question pops up for the vast majority of people: What about alternatives? So many just express frustration that they feel there is nothing they can do: “Ffs I cant migrate from it, no alternative.” Such a truth! Discord is now what everyone looks for. For raiding, for modding a community, for chilling while gaming…where can you even find an alternative? Some suggestions included an old-fashioned TeamSpeak to “time to shine once again,” which could very well mean an underhanded way to say, “Why can’t we simplify?” Others, like DEG Mods, are seeing a “freedom-focused, censorship-resistant, permissionless” alternative. But to actually think of building that from scratch? A depressing wish.
Hang on, what was I, again? Oh, yes, panic! Not just ads is the test, for a lot of gamers. Their panic revolves around a change in the core user experience. Changes, and profit! Fallenone analyzed: “What’s the customer benefit of Discord going for profit? I don’t see any.” And there lies the problem; as soon as profit enters, they forget about user experience. Instead, features are locked behind paywalls, data collection might get a bit heavier, and avenues artificially made for growth might turn a simple, honest chat into an unreliable, halfway there slightly-cool clothing.
Then again, not everyone believes it is the end of the world. Others just see it as a little step in business evolution. LevendiPro gave his comment by way of “tbh…”. Kamo chimed in by saying that the confidential filing “just lets them tidy the S-1 away from headlines,” boring business-speak for ‘let’s cool things down shall we?’ Context matters a lot more for the average player. This is also about that digital living room where they game. Don’t spoil the digital living space…[with] paywalls and ads everywhere.
The ill-modelling amateur in the video game Discorderly, huh? It doesn’t seem so anymore. It means that one cannot survive without the other, does it not? And this relationship is fraught with a waking nightmare of the shares’ climb and fall; this is somewhat the net neutrality that might now be just slightly a kind of dreaming, falling apart. Echo2 mentions the following: “Discord had a good run. Now it’s going to have a great run.” Ill be running the other way.”
