Discord, the popular instant messaging app for gamers, announced today that it is redesigning its brand, providing new illustrations filled with gaming-themed Easter eggs.
To celebrate its ninth anniversary, Discord CEO Jason Citron wrote in a new blog post that beginning May 29, the company is sharing a "refreshed look and visual identity" for the platform. Citron explains that this new revamped look for Discord will "reflect the future of people playing games together."
This revamped look for the Discord brand will include updates to the Discord homepage, featuring new visuals, as shown in the GIF below.
"Our decision to update our brand was inspired by what we've learned from spending time with thousands of our customers to understand what they want to see from us. It turns out games are largely still what bring people to Discord, which is playing an important role in fostering friendships," Discord VP of Marketing Mike Polner told IGN.
The new look is a long time coming for Discord, as over the last few years, the company rolled out support for Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Specifically, integrating Discord voice chats for Xbox in 2022 and PS5 in 2023 will allow these console players to share voice chats with each platform player and PC.
The integration of Discord comes at a time when there is not only a growing age of cross-play support across consoles but a rise in popularity for online games, particularly live-service games such as Helldivers 2. "Over the next decade, we believe another billion people will be playing multiplayer games and enjoying the kinds of deep rich experiences that we have all come to love," Citron wrote.
A new look for the homepage aside, Discord also confirmed this refresh look for its brand will introduce new visuals for the platform. One example includes Discord mascot Wumpus, who will receive a 3D model to fit the "multiverse" theme that Discord uses to signify its brand-new look. More interestingly, Discord is rolling out new icons that will pay homage to various gaming franchises.
"We also learned there is a lot of love for our brand and an appreciation for our lore (Wumpus is a fan favorite!). It was important to us to bring this inspiration to our updated brand identity," Polner explained. "This includes all kinds of characters that embody our customers' interests, easter eggs inspired by some of our favorite parts of gaming culture, and expanding upon our notorious purple colorways, among other things."
Gaming easter eggs aplenty
As you can see from the gallery above, Discord is introducing ten new icons. These icons represent several gaming franchises. Some of the icons are more obvious, like the coin from the Super Mario franchise. But as Discord told us, some icons may require "more of an eagle eye," for people to identify.
Since its launch in 2015, Discord has become one of the most popular websites in the world. With 200 million active users a month, it comes as no surprise that Discord is the 35th most visited website worldwide as of April 2024, according to the data aggregation site SimiliarWeb.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
