Discord announced a plethora of updates to its online communication software and service today, including new ways to interact with third-party apps on the platform and a cheaper Nitro subscription tier.

The VoIP and text chat service is adding a new “App Directory” where server moderators can browse apps and integrate them into their servers, all within the Discord app. Third-party apps were supported already, but you had to go find them on the web and install them. This new approach is more akin to an on-platform app store.

Longtime Discord users may typically refer to apps as bots; these are special features you can activate with a “/” command, such as polls, moderation, meme generation, and more. Basically, Discord made it easier to find and install these bots. The App Directory was announced today and launches on October 18.

But the more exceptional development on this front may be a significant expansion of “Activities,” which are multi-user experiences that you can enjoy alongside friends on a voice call. Friends on a call together can play poker or chess, watch YouTube videos Teleparty/Netflix Party-style, and more. This development shows Discord moving beyond its original remit as a voice-and-chat platform for gamers to what it has become: a virtual community hub for people with various interests and social glues, not just gaming.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Discord had been used as a place for friends and family to stay in touch and share their lives with each other. It is also used as a gathering place for hobbyists in other areas, like the sneaker-collecting community as one example. And in some industries, it’s even being used as a professional networking place. In all these cases, it is an alternative for those groups to Facebook, Twitter, or other feed-based social media services.

Cheaper Nitro

The last major update Discord announced today is to its premium subscription service, Nitro. Until now, the cheapest Nitro option was $4.99 per month. Another at $9.99 offered a variety of perks, like bigger upload size limits, the ability to use emojis from one channel in any other channel, custom server profiles, HD video streaming, and several other things. That price was a bit steep for many users, though—especially given that most people would never touch most of the perks it offered.

To address that issue, Discord introduced Nitro Basic, which offers arguably the two most appealing Nitro features—bigger uploads and server-agnostic emojis—for just $2.99. While the classic Nitro subscription bumped upload limits from a paltry 10MB to 100MB, Nitro Basic uploads max out at 50MB. Nitro Basic also includes server-agnostic stickers, the Nitro profile badge, and custom video backgrounds.

All these updates tell the same story about the platform: It’s trying to grow beyond perceptions that it is first and foremost a gaming VoIP platform. Most people who use Discord regularly already knew it was headed in that direction, and the team developing the app has increasingly shifted its focus to this more expansive concept.

Update: This article originally failed to mention the $4.99 Nitro Classic subscription. We’ve updated it to correctly note that the $9.99 option was not the only one before today.

Listing image by Discord

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