Discord overview
Discord makes a communication app organized around communities. Its Discord service lets people talk by voice, video and text in direct messages and in servers, invitation-based spaces that hold many text and voice channels. Most of its users play video games, and the company describes itself as a platform for building connections around games, although servers also host study groups, open-source projects, creators and fan communities.
Jason Citron, who had sold the mobile gaming network OpenFeint to Japan’s GREE in 2011, founded a game studio called Phoenix Guild in April 2012; it was later renamed Hammer & Chisel, and Stanislav Vishnevskiy joined in 2013. While building the iPad battle arena game Fates Forever, released in 2014, the team grew frustrated with existing voice chat software and turned its own chat system into Discord, which launched in May 2015. Gaming communities on Reddit and Twitch streamers adopted it quickly, and the company eventually took the Discord name.
Discord raised money from investors including Benchmark, Greenoaks Capital, Index Ventures, Tencent and Sony, and its monthly user base doubled to about 140 million in 2020 during the pandemic. In 2021 it walked away from acquisition talks in which Microsoft was reported to be the leading bidder, choosing to stay independent, and later that year raised $500 million at a valuation of about $15 billion. After rapid hiring, it cut 17 percent of its staff in January 2024.
Humam Sakhnini, a former Activision Blizzard vice chairman and president of King, replaced Citron as CEO in April 2025, with Citron staying on the board as an adviser. Under Sakhnini, Discord has expanded advertising through sponsored Quests and a virtual currency called Orbs, added partner perks to its Nitro subscription and announced plans to make teen-appropriate settings the default for accounts worldwide, a rollout it delayed in February 2026 until the second half of the year. Its age-verification plans drew criticism after a 2025 breach at a customer service vendor exposed about 70,000 users’ ID images, and the company also faces child-safety actions such as a lawsuit filed by Texas in May 2026. Bloomberg reported in January 2026 that Discord had confidentially filed for an initial public offering; as of September 2026 it remained privately held.
Software by Discord
Discord’s flagship product, first released in 2015.
Discord history and milestones
- 2012
Jason Citron founds the game studio Phoenix Guild, later renamed Hammer & Chisel, in April.
- 2013
Stanislav Vishnevskiy joins Citron’s studio as it develops a mobile battle arena game.
- 2014
The studio releases Fates Forever for the iPad, but the game struggles commercially.
- 2015
Discord launches publicly in May as a voice and text chat app for gamers.
- 2017
Discord introduces Nitro, its first paid subscription.
- 2018
A $150 million funding round led by Greenoaks Capital values Discord at $2 billion.
- 2020
Discord’s monthly user base doubles to about 140 million during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2021
Discord ends acquisition talks with potential buyers and raises $500 million at a valuation of about $15 billion.
- 2024
Discord lays off 17 percent of its staff after years of rapid hiring.
- 2025
Humam Sakhnini succeeds co-founder Jason Citron as CEO in April.
- 2026
Discord announces teen-by-default settings worldwide, delays the global age-assurance rollout and launches Nitro Rewards.
Who founded Discord?
Jason Citron
Co-founder; CEO until 2025
Jason Citron learned to program as a teenager and in 2009 founded OpenFeint, a social network for mobile games that GREE bought in 2011 for about $104 million. He used the proceeds to start the studio that became Hammer & Chisel, whose first game, Fates Forever, was not a commercial success but led the team to build the chat app that launched as Discord in 2015.
Citron ran Discord as chief executive for a decade, steering it from a gamer chat tool to a broad community platform. In April 2025 he handed the CEO role to Humam Sakhnini and stayed on the board of directors as an adviser to the CEO.
Stanislav Vishnevskiy
Co-founder and chief technology officer
Stanislav Vishnevskiy joined Jason Citron’s game studio in April 2013, when it was working on the mobile game Fates Forever, and was listed on its team as lead app and infrastructure engineer. He and Citron went on to create Discord, which launched in May 2015.
As Discord’s chief technology officer, Vishnevskiy has overseen the systems that let the service handle millions of simultaneous users, and he has written publicly about the company’s use of the Elixir programming language to scale its real-time messaging. He remains CTO under chief executive Humam Sakhnini.
How Discord makes money
Discord is free to use and has traditionally made money from optional paid features. Nitro, a monthly or yearly subscription also offered in a cheaper Basic tier, adds larger file uploads, higher-quality streaming, custom emoji across servers and profile customization, and since May 2026 it has included partner perks such as an Xbox Game Pass tier. Users can also buy Server Boosts that unlock features for a community they belong to, and the Discord Shop sells avatar decorations and profile effects.
Discord has since built an advertising business aimed at game publishers. Sponsored Quests reward players for playing or streaming games with in-app items or Orbs, a virtual currency launched globally in July 2025 that can be spent in the Shop, and in 2025 Discord introduced its first mobile ad formats. The company also offers a Social SDK that lets developers bring Discord friends, chat and voice into their games, and in December 2025 it added a commerce experience for gaming communities. Discord briefly ran its own game store in 2018 and 2019 to compete with Steam before closing it.
Who owns and runs Discord?
Humam Sakhnini has been Discord’s chief executive since April 28, 2025. He previously held senior roles at Activision Blizzard for more than a decade, including president of King, the maker of Candy Crush, and vice chairman of Activision Blizzard. Co-founder Jason Citron, CEO from Discord’s launch until 2025, remains on the board as an adviser to the CEO, and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy is chief technology officer. Discord Inc. is privately held and backed by venture investors; Bloomberg reported in January 2026 that it had confidentially filed for an IPO.
- Humam SakhniniCEO (since 2025)
- Jason CitronCo-founder; CEO until 2025; board member and adviser
- Stanislav VishnevskiyCo-founder and chief technology officer
Discord: frequently asked questions
Who founded Discord?
Discord was founded by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy. Citron started a game studio called Phoenix Guild, later Hammer & Chisel, in 2012, and Vishnevskiy joined in 2013. While making the mobile game Fates Forever, the team built a chat app for players that launched as Discord in May 2015.
Who owns Discord?
Discord Inc. is a privately held company owned by its founders, employees and venture investors, which have included Benchmark, Greenoaks Capital, Index Ventures, Tencent and Sony. Bloomberg reported in January 2026 that Discord had confidentially filed for an initial public offering, but as of September 2026 its shares were not publicly traded.
Who is the CEO of Discord?
Humam Sakhnini has been the CEO of Discord since April 28, 2025. He previously held senior roles at Activision Blizzard, including president of the Candy Crush maker King and vice chairman of Activision Blizzard. He succeeded co-founder Jason Citron, who stayed on Discord’s board as an adviser.
Where is Discord headquartered?
Discord is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company grew out of Hammer & Chisel, the game studio Jason Citron founded in 2012, and today it runs the Discord service for users around the world in about 30 languages.
What software does Discord make?
Discord makes the Discord app for voice, video and text chat, available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the web. It also sells the Nitro subscription, offers developer tools such as the Social SDK for adding Discord features to games, and runs advertising products such as sponsored Quests for game publishers.
Is Discord a public company?
No. Discord Inc. remained privately held as of September 2026. It has raised money from venture investors, reaching a valuation of about $15 billion in a 2021 funding round, and Bloomberg reported in January 2026 that it had confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering.
How does Discord verify users’ ages?
Discord began requiring age checks for some users in 2025 to comply with laws in the United Kingdom and Australia. In February 2026 it announced that teen-appropriate settings would become the default for accounts worldwide, with adults confirmed through an age inference model, on-device facial age estimation or an ID check, but it then delayed the global rollout to the second half of 2026.
Sources
- About Discord discord.com
- Discord appoints Humam Sakhnini as Chief Executive Officer discord.com
- Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally discord.com
- Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service discord.com
- Discord, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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