Discord ups Go Live streaming limit from 10 to 50 people during coronavirus

Discord is upping the amount of people who can simultaneously view a live stream from 10 to 50 as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Discord CEO Jason Citron writes that the company took the decision after hearing about how people are using Discord to overcome the disruption to their lives caused by the virus. Launched last year, the Go Live streaming functionality lets users stream video of their current app or game over Discord. “We wanted to find a way to help,” the CEO says.

In his blog post, the CEO said that Discord will maintain the higher user limit “as long as it’s critically needed,” while a tweet announcing the change indicated that it would remain in place for “the next few months. ” However, the CEO also warned that the move is likely to create a surge in demand for the feature, which could lead to performance issues. An update from us regarding COVID-19: pic. twitter.

com/gKUXvvsqrs It’s a nice gesture from the company, since experts agree that social distancing — asking people to avoid gathering in groups and keeping their distance from others — is one of the best defences we have against stopping the spread of the virus. Citron said that he hoped the feature would make it easier for teachers to conduct classes remotely, for co-workers to collaborate, and for groups to meet. Of course, it should also make it easier to just watch some friends play games if you’ve been going stir-crazy while self-isolating. If you want to give the feature a try for yourself, then you can find the “Go Live” button on the bottom left of the Discord window, above your status bar.

If any of your friends are streaming, then you’ll see a red “Live” indicator next to their username in the app. You can click their username to see a link to watch their stream. Go Live is available for free to all Discord users, but you’ll need to be a subscriber if you want to stream at above 720p/30fps. You can find more information on Discord’s site.