Discord's Stage Channels Receive Enhancements with Video, Screen Sharing, and Text Chat Support

Source: Discord

Discord has announced new updates for Stage Channels, a feature similar to Clubhouse that allows a small group of people to converse in front of an audience. The messaging platform is expanding the original audio-only feature to include video, screen sharing, and text chat support.

With the Community feature enabled, servers can now have up to five members use video simultaneously while on a Stage with one screen share. The maximum capacity for Community servers is 50 members, including video participants and audience members, which can be increased using Server Boosting, a paid feature that unlocks perks for communities. The maximum capacity can be increased to 150 or 300 people, depending on the upgrade tier. However, when a Stage Channel reaches its capacity, no more members will be allowed to join.

Video, screen share, and text chat support bring a Twitch-like aspect to Discord. That’s not great news for Twitch as Discord runs into their territory. Although the audience caps will limit the potential impact for larger creators, smaller ones may see Stage Channels as a viable alternative to using Twitch, with the added benefit of it being in a more controllable, closed community. Live podcasts, talk shows, and gaming sessions are all potential use cases for the upgraded version of Stage Channels.