Streaming has gotten more popular with every passing year, both in terms of viewers and streamers. The idea of broadcasting yourself playing a game for an audience is very appealing, but up until recently has required expensive equipment and technical skills to pull off. That’s changed recently with services such asDiscordintegrating streaming services right into their platforms. That eliminates a major barrier of entry for the majority of people.
Whether you’re interested in building an audience or just want to play a game or watch a movie with your friends and family, Discord makes it easy. Here’s everything you need to know to get started streaming on Discord today.
Further reading
How to stream on Twitch from a PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One
How to livestream on YouTube with OBS
How to use Go Live
Go Live is what Discord calls its streaming feature they built directly into their client. To use it, you will need a Discord account and its desktop client. You are free to watch streams through your browser of choice, with mobile viewing being an upcoming addition. Once you have booted up Discord, start by joining the server you want your stream broadcasted on. Next, open the game you intend on streaming. Discord might automatically detect the game you opened and give you the option to immediately start streaming it by adding theGo Livebutton on the bottom left side of Discord. You will see the icon just above your status bar.
Once you selectGo Live, you can double-check that the game you’re streaming is correct. If it isn’t, simply hitChangeand search for the correct game name. From there, as long as the voice channel is also correct, all that’s left is to hitGo Live,and your stream will start. Discord will show you a small preview window of what your audience sees as well.
Adjust your stream settings
If you move your mouse over the little preview window of your stream, an icon of a cog will show up. Click this to adjust your stream settings, such as the visual quality and frame rate. Be aware that you will need a Discord Nitro account, the premium service that costs $9.99 per month, if you want to hit 1080p 60 fps. Nitro members can even stream at a full 4K 60 fps if their machine can handle it. Everyone else will be capped at 720p and 30 fps.
Discord streams are limited to a maximum of 50 viewers for now, but that only applies to people watching the stream. you may still join a voice channel with more than that amount but will just not be able to view anyone streaming if they’ve hit that viewer limit.
Screen sharing
If you’re more interested in streaming for non-gaming-related purposes, theGo Livebutton is still where you want to start. Instead of booting up a game, just hit theGo Livebutton to bring up a menu where you can select eitherApplicationsorScreensfor streaming. If you just want to share one specific application, like a web browser, you will see it underApplicationsas long as you have it open.Screenswill share your entire screen.
