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Finding time to game with your friends can be difficult, especially if you manage work, school, and day-to-day errands. But when you do get the chance to sit down and play a few rounds of “Call of Duty” or any other party-based game on Steam, Discord has made it rather simple to chat with your fellow gamers. Still, even though Steam Chat is integrated directly through the popular Steam online store, gamers seem to choose Discord as their main way to communicate while playing.
Discord allows users to create groups to chat about their favorite topics, including video games. It offers the ability to customize text, voice, and video channels so users can chat with one another while playing games together. Users must have a Discord account to use the platform.
Steam Chat works similarly but only allows chat rooms for text and audio conversations. Users can make several chat rooms and invite their Steam friends to join, but only through Steam on a web browser or the Steam client.
Steam’s restrictions are one of the reasons Discord has become a preferred app among gamers. Discord is ultimately easier to access and it includes more features. Online forums contain threads discussing both platforms, including why some people end up ditching Discord too.
What users love about Discord
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For diehard Discord fans, there are several reasons for them to use the platform as opposed to Steam Chat. Reddit threads include discussions about cross-compatibility, which is a theme that often comes up around Discord. Many gamers find that while they may prefer PC gaming, their friend group plays on consoles like Xbox or PlayStation. Discord allows everyone to use the same app on their phone with little worry about who’s playing using what system.
Other online threads point out that Discord features more chat functions not found in Steam Chat. For example, Discord does not delete the chat history of any discussion forum on the platform, whereas users say that Steam Chat on both the PC and mobile app only saves chats for up to two weeks.
One other big feature that users say makes Discord better than Steam Chat is voice chat. Yes, both platforms include it, but the Steam Chat mobile app, for some reason, does not include voice chat. It limits users to only being able to text through the app. Both the Discord app and web browser allow you to use voice, text, and video chat. Discord is also often used for more than just gaming, with people connecting for work, school, and more. Plus, Discord’s massive glow-up with one of its updates helps it look better than Steam, too.
Can Steam Chat compete with Discord?
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Steam Chat is a useful platform for anyone gaming on PC through the Steam client. It’s built directly into Steam so all a user needs to do is click it from the Steam PC app. Having that feature integrated with Steam makes it more accessible to PC gamers. But its lack of other features, such as video chat and easy cross-console connections, reduce its competition to Discord.
There are a few features that Steam Chat could add that may make it more versatile, therefore increasing its likelihood of being a rival to Discord. For starters, Valve, the company that owns Steam, could add a video chat feature to the entire ecosystem. This would allow gamers to see one another when playing party games. Other additions would be to add voice chat to the mobile app and to have a way to stream the game to viewers like in Discord’s channels.
Overall users feel that Steam Chat is rather basic compared to the suite of features that Discord offers. Both do require a username to login and use, but Discord isn’t restricted to just Steam. However, Discord does plan to restrict accounts unless you provide ID, in the name of child safety. Though once on the platform, you have access to so much more than Steam Chat.
