In case you missed the memo, the Discord Store released in beta earlier today. The company, once known for providing gamers with one of the most popular voice and text service platforms, is now taking on the big boys of distribution. The store goes head-to-head against the twin titans, Valve’s Steam and EA’s Origin gaming platforms. Oh, and Ubisoft’s Uplay, I suppose. To match its competition, Discord is providing a monthly tiered subscription-based service, called Discord Nitro. It currently has 60 games and…they’re actually damn impressive.
Of course, it shouldn’t surprise us that Discord is playing hardball right out the gate. To go against the Steam behemoth, one would need to increase the stakes. The move, however, is more of a direct response to Origin Access, which also provides a good score of games for a monthly fee. The amount on Discord doesn’t quite match up to Origin Access, pitting 60 games against about 140. But it’s not bad for a start.
Wallet Wars
The pricing for each respective service is also where the differences stand out. As of this writing, Discord Nitro is available at $9.99 USD per month or $99.99 a year with two free months. EA’s Origin Access, however, has two different versions: basic and premier. Basic is running for $4.99 a month, or $29.99 a year. Premier, on the other hand, provides the same game library as Basic — but for $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, you gain early access to some major upcoming games. Both Battlefield V and Anthem are included as early access games.
In comparison, the Discord deal doesn’t look as tempting. The Basic tier of Origin Access includes more than twice the amount of games. Many of them are some heavy hitters — like the Mass Effect and Dead Space trilogies. Plus, the two share some indie classics among them. Even if you don’t care about playing the games before release with Origin, Discord Nitro is still the worse among two services.
However, there are some impressive standouts in the list.
Indie Classics And More
I’m a big supporter of the explosive indie development we’ve had these last handful of years. So, with that in mind, I view the list of games on Discord Nitro with awe. There are some damn fine examples of wonderful indie games here. Games like Risk of Rain, with its hauntingly good soundtrack, and Inside, which was just haunting, are both included. There are also some well-known classics like Super Meat Boy and FTL: Advanced Edition worth looking at if you haven’t experienced these masterpieces yet.
Though they comprise the biggest piece of the gaming pie, indies aren’t the only games available. Both Darksiders games are included in the list, as is Metro: Last Light Redux. The latter of these is something you should jump on if you haven’t already, especially with Metro: Exodus just around the corner.
To reiterate, the Discord Store is now available to all. Along with competitive price matching, the company is also tossing in its chips for some interesting looking indie games that will release first on the Discord platform. For more on the store, check out the official website.
