Discord voice chats are finally coming to Xbox consoles, but it's complicated

Discord voice chats are coming to Xbox. Starting today, those enrolled in Microsoft's Xbox Insider beta program can test the functionality before a wider rollout later this year. The feature allows Discord users on Xbox, PC and mobile to join the same voice channel, thereby making it easier to communicate when playing cross-platform games like Halo Infinite. That said, the integration isn’t as seamless as simply downloading Discord on your Xbox.

You first need to connect your Xbox Account to Discord. If you previously did that so that your Discord contacts could see your Gamertag, you’ll need to do so again to grant the app voice permissions on your Xbox console. You’ll find the option to connect your accounts within Discord’s User Settings. Click or tap the cog icon, navigate to the “Connections” menu, select the Xbox icon and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Screenshots detailing the process for transferring Discord voice chats to an Xbox console. The user must first join a voice channel and then select (Discord)

Because the entire process works through a series of hand-offs, you’ll then need to download the Xbox mobile app. To talk with your friends, join a voice channel through Discord, where you'll see a new “Join on Xbox” button. Tap that and the Xbox app will automatically open on your phone, solely to ask what console it should forward the call audio to. Now imagine doing that every time single time you want to use Discord on your Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S.

It’s not the most elegant process, but it’s still something Discord users have been waiting for the company to add since it first announced Xbox integration in 2018. The integration may also offer a glimpse at how Sony plans to add Discord voice chat to its PlayStation consoles. Discord did not say exactly when voice chat would be available to all Xbox users, though the feature is expected to arrive sometime later this year.