If you’ve spent time gaming online, you’ve probably installed Discord on your computer or phone. Discord was born out of the necessity for a way to communicate with other players while playing online competitive or cooperative video games.
Though the app has a full chat-based application and clients for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS, the app is primarily known for its VoIP interface that allows for latency-free calls over a dedicated Discord server, making for a better gaming and recording experience than anything you’d see through Skype or Google Hangouts.
Like many online apps, Discord is free to use while offering a paid option for anyone looking to improve their experience. Dubbed Nitro, Discord’s top-tier paid plan is available monthly and yearly, granting you several benefits for your standard account.
From custom Discord tags, animated GIF support, upgraded upload limits, and more, Nitro—in its classic and premium formats—is a must-have upgrade for anyone who regularly uses the chat service.
One of the most interesting offerings from Discord’s Nitro program—and one of the few things that made it worth upgrading from Nitro Classic—was the library of games you could pick from to play automatically included with your subscription.
Unfortunately, on September 14th, 2019, Discord announced Nitro’s game library was disappearing. So will Nitro subscribers get to keep those games? Read on to find out.
What Is Discord Nitro?
You might be unfamiliar with their Nitro offerings if you’re new to Discord. Discord Nitro is a premium subscription service that charges a monthly fee in two tiers: Nitro or Nitro Classic.
When originally offered in October of 2018, Nitro presented an obvious boost over the Classic offering thanks to the new game library you could pick up included with your subscription. Still, with it gone, things look a lot different. Let’s take a look at both options.
Discord Nitro Classic Tier
Discord Nitro Classic is a cheaper subscription service among the two. It costs $4.99 per month ($49.99 per year) and offers you the following features:
- GIF Support and Animated Avatars – You can upload GIFs and other animations to your profile picture.
- Ability to use custom-made emojis everywhere – Without Nitro, you could only use them in servers that uploaded them.
- Discord Nitro Badge on profile – You will receive a Nitro badge on your Discord profile to show off.
- Ability to change your Discord Tag (discriminator) – You can customize your four-digit Discord Tag. Once the subscription ends, your discriminator will randomize.
- Higher Quality Screen Share – You can screen share games with 720p at 60 fps or even 1080p at 30 fps.
- Increased File Uploading Cap – Regular Discord accounts can upload individual files of up to 8MB. On the other hand, Nitro subscribers can upload up to 50MB simultaneously.
Discord Nitro Tier
At $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, Nitro gives you everything offered in the classic tier besides server boosting.
Server boosting allows you and your community extra perks while using Discord. It’s a fairly complicated system, so check out Discord’s blog post to learn more about how it works.
The other major feature of the high-end Nitro tier was the library of games you could access each month. Discord offered over 100 games, but come October 15th, 2019; they’ll be gone for good.
What’s Happening with Nitro Games?
On September 14th, 2019, Discord announced that their subscription service for streaming games was going away on October 15th, just a year after Discord began offering the feature. This means that Discord Nitro subscribers won’t be able to access that library of games following that October 15th date.
Read: How To Play Blackjack on Discord
It’s not all bad news, however. First and foremost, if you want to request a refund for Nitro because your game library is disappearing, you can do that here. Discord clarifies in their blog post on Nitro Games that you can request a refund.
It’s worth noting if you’ve purchased a game through Discord’s store, that’s yours to keep and is unaffected by this announcement. Likewise, any Nitro Game Perks you’ve purchased are also unaffected.
Second, Discord isn’t letting their higher-tier Nitro offering go without some changes. While the game library might be going away, Discord is doing its best to ensure Nitro subscribers don’t feel like they’re wasting their money.
For example, recently, Nitro subscribers tried out Discord’s new live-streaming service early. They’ve also just launched a doubled upload size for Nitro, up to 100 MB. They have also reduced the number of boosts needed to reach level 3. Discord isn’t planning on stopping there, either. They’ve opened up requests from the community on what they want to see from Discord Nitro by using the feedback feature here.
Discord says that while some users supported and played the game library offered through Nitro, most Nitro subscribers didn’t touch them. So instead of continuing to offer a library of titles that most users weren’t interested in, the company is trying to offer better features for their highest-tier subscribers.
What Alternatives to Nitro Games Exists?
Subscription-based game libraries are becoming increasingly popular, with Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Google, and Nvidia offering a game library for a monthly fee or about to in the coming months. If you want the best bang for your buck, we recommend Microsofts’ library, Xbox Game Pass for PC.
From indie hits like Hollow Knight and Slay the Spire to AAA games like Middle Earth: Shadow of War and Rise of the Tomb Raider, it’s a great way to play some new games for one low price.
