The Reasons Why PC Gamers Will Never Switch From Discord To Steam Chat

Finding time to game with your friends can be difficult, especially if you manage work, school, and day-to-day errands. But when you do get the chance to sit down and play a few rounds of "Call of Duty" or any other multiplayer game on Steam, Discord has made it rather simple to chat with your fellow gamers. Still, even though Steam Chat is integrated directly through the Steam platform, gamers seem to choose Discord as their main way to communicate while playing.

Discord allows users to create groups and servers to chat about their favorite topics, including but not exclusive to, video games. Discord servers offer the ability to customize text and voice channels so users can chat with one another while playing games together. Users must have a Discord account to use the platform. Steam Chat works similarly, but only allows chat rooms for text and audio conversations. Users can make several chat rooms and invite their Steam friends to join, but only through the Steam platform. 

Steam Chat's lack of features are one of the reasons Discord has become a preferred app among gamers. Discord is ultimately easier to access, and it includes more features and compatibility. Among PC gamers, online forums contain threads discussing both platforms, including why some people end up ditching Discord, too.

For die-hard Discord fans, there are several reasons for them to use the platform as opposed to Steam Chat. Reddit threads of Discord and Steam users consistently include discussions about cross-compatibility, which is a theme that often comes up around Discord. Many gamers find that while they may prefer PC gaming, their friend group may play on consoles like Xbox or PlayStation primarily. Discord allows everyone to use the same app on their phone with little worry about who's playing on what system.

Other online threads point to Discord's features offering more functionality over Steam Chat. For example, Discord does not delete the chat history of any discussion forum on the platform, whereas Steam Chat on both the PC and mobile app only saves chats for up to two weeks. One other big feature that users say makes Discord better than Steam Chat is with voice chat. 

Yes, both platforms include it, but the Steam Chat mobile app, for some reason, does not include voice chat. It limits users to only being able to text through the app. Both the Discord app and web browser allow you to use voice, text, and video chat. Discord is also often used for more than just gaming, with people connecting for work, school, and more.

Steam Chat is a useful platform for anyone gaming on PC directly through the Steam client. It's built directly into Steam, so all a user needs to do is open up Steam Chat via the PC app. Having that feature integrated with Steam makes it more accessible to PC gamers, but its lack of other features such as video chat and easy cross-console connections reduces its competition to Discord.

There are a few features that Steam Chat could add that would make it more versatile to rival Discord. Valve (the company that owns Steam) could add a video chat feature to the entire ecosystem, allowing gamers to see one another when playing party games, like Discord. Other additions would be to add voice chat to the mobile app, and to have a way to stream the game to viewers like in Discord's servers. 

That said, it's pretty clear Valve is in no rush to compete with Discord, which has already scaled massively larger than Steam Chat as it exists today. Valve is likely more concerned with its storefront and platform infrastructure, rather than competing with a social app that's massively popular.

Overall users feel that Steam Chat is rather basic compared to the suite of features that Discord offers. Both do require a username to login and use, but Discord isn't restricted to just Steam. However, Discord does plan to restrict accounts unless you provide ID, in the name of child safety. Though once on the platform, you have access to so much more than Steam Chat.