Is Discord Shutting Down in 2023?

Discord is one of the most popular VoIP and internet messaging services used in the UK and the US. It has more than a quarter of a billion registered users worldwide, and it’s often used by gamers to chat to each other whilst they’re playing video games online.

However, there is a rumour going around that Discord may be shutting down at some point over the next few years. You may have seen this rumour floating around your Discord server, or in a forum whilst you’ve been browsing online.

So, is this rumour true, and should you be looking for another platform? Or is Discord going to be around for a while yet?

Is Discord Shutting Down?

The good news is that Discord isn’t shutting down any time in the near future. The creators and the Discord team haven’t sent any official message to users giving any indication that they’ll be closing Discord at any point.

So whilst you might have not been able to use Discord on your laptop, it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, if anything Discord looks like it’s only going to get more popular as time goes on.

There were only 10 million active users as of 2016 – fast forward to 2023 and there’s more than 150 million active users using the platform on a regular basis. So, there’s no reason to shut Discord down in the near future.

This rumour likely started due to messages that many people were receiving in their Discord accounts from random users. The message generated was fake, and there’s no basis that the rumour itself is true.

However, it does get you to thinking – if Discord was to shut down, where else could we use to chat to others when we’re gaming?

Alternatives to Discord

So, if the worst was to happen and Discord was eventually closed down, what other options are there out there? With errors like the No Route Problem, it is easy to see why some users may be worried about the platform disappearing for good.

Fortunately, there are a ton of different alternatives that we could move to if Discord was shutting down. Here’s a few of the better ones out there.

SEE ALSO: Our Slack vs Discord comparison

Teamspeak

If you’re looking for an alternative to Discord for gaming, then Teamspeak is going to be the number 1 option out there. Its user design is very similar to that of Discord, even though Teamspeak was around long before Discord was.

Teamspeak is the most commonly used method of communication by eSport gamers, and it works well across Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s best known for its reliable connection and zero lag time when you’re speaking to other members of your party.

As well as this, there’s also a lot of customization allowed with Teamspeak, as well as the ability to create your own server within the app. So for gamers, Teamspeak is the first place people will look if Discord was to ever shut down.

Also Read: Our TeamSpeak vs Discord comparison

Mumble

Another very popular gaming app similar to both Teamspeak and Discord, Mumble has been around for a long time now (it was first launched all the way back in 2005.

Its basic appearance tends to put some folk off of using it, but the reality is that with Mumble, the focus is on usability and not appearance. It’s still one of the top options if you want a low-latency way to talking to other party members without having to worry about lag.

If you want to play with a large group of other people and don’t want to have to worry about disconnecting or issues with your voice chat, then Mumble might be the right choice for you.

Overtone

One of the younger options if you’re looking to a gaming focussed messaging platform, Overtone has only been around for a few years.

At the present, it’s not on the same level as Discord in terms of usability and features of the app, too. But, it is still pretty early days for the app, and most of the basics are there if you’re looking for a Discord alternative.

Whilst it’s not the finished product by any means, Overtone looks like a good option if you’re trying to get away from Discord, or at least to use it as a backup to Discord for the time being. And, who knows – over the next few years, it might get even better and on par with Discord.

Though there are alternatives out there to use if Discord were ever to shut down, there are some reasons why Discord has prove to be so popular amongst users online. Here are some of the things that make it one of the best messaging apps online.

It’s free – One of the main reasons why Discord is as popular as it is is that it’s free for people to use. Sometimes, messaging services charge you to use their service. It’s fair to say that if Discord did charge, then it wouldn’t be nearly as popular as it is today.
Official games – Many popular games, like Fortnite and Minecraft, have official servers within Discord that you can use to talk to other gamers. Making these partnerships has undoubtedly boosted its popularity overall.
Zero ads – As well as being free, Discord isn’t jam packed to the top with ads. Many free software downloads that you use when you’re online will get their income from filling the app with ads. This isn’t the case with Discord, and you don’t need to worry about spammy ads.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it doesn’t look like Discord will be shutting down any time in the near future. It’s still the most popular way for gamers to speak to each other when they’re online, and it’s continuing to increase in popularity.

So, there’s really no sense in thinking that it’ll be shutting down any time soon, and much of this is based on rumours that aren’t true. And if it were to randomly shut down, then the truth is that there are plenty of willing replacements we could use instead.

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About Steve

Hi, I'm Steve. I've worked for the past 8 years in a major furniture retailer in the UK, so I know my way around a desk or two. On the weekends, I spend time with my kids or I'm probably outside in the garden doing something or other!

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