Discord, the app that has taken over communications in the gaming space, just announced a massive update to its PC client and its overlay, promising improvements to almost every aspect of the popular app. Watch the bizarre, as usual, announcement of the overhaul above.
The overlay is what's receiving the biggest shake-up. Discord is saying this widely used feature has been rebuilt from "the ground up to help make talking with friends while playing your favorite games smoother than ever."
The biggest change is the way the overlay functions, ditching the original "hacky" game hook method for attaching to the window. The development team says that this has even been affecting game performance. The new overlay is said to be much snappier, thanks to its use of a new rendering method.
"Plus, since we’re no longer trying to shove the Overlay directly into your game and angering the anti-cheat gods, the Game Overlay works on wayyyy more titles, including a larger portion of the most-played games on Discord," adds the team.
The new overlay is widget-based, splitting settings apart so that the user can position them anywhere on the screen. A new action bar also lets users quickly control voice and video controls, livestreams, and join voice calls. Even streams of other Discord users can now be played inside the overlay as a pop-up.
The desktop client's design is also receiving a refresh with this update, offering more customization in the form of Light, Ash, Dark, and Onyx themes and three UI density options. Meanwhile, resizable servers in the channel, more visible voice and video settings, and a refreshed color scheme for the entire app have arrived, too.
The new and improved Discord is now rolling out on PC for everyone. If it doesn’t appear right away, restarting the app should push it to the latest version.
3 Comments - Add comment