Video Stage Channels

Voice channels at Discord were limited by the total audience they could accommodate, and were missing key features that would help streamers run larger events.

The goal: ship a new channel type that lets multiple speakers and viewers join a broadcast at any time, with more controls for speakers and audience, for gaming and entertainment communities.

Shipped in 2023 and became one of the most commonly used channel types on servers with over 50k members.

The stream leads the stage, with speakers in a row of tiles underneath and the audience below them. Both rows can be hidden so the stream gets the full space.

Live chat opens as a thread beside the stream, so the audience can react and talk along without taking the mic.

On mobile the stream sits at the top with speakers and audience stacked below. Camera, raise hand, mic and chat share one row of controls at the bottom.

More UX research
Learning more about different creators and server admins helped us refine the needs for stages. It wasn’t just a streaming product for games.

Keeping it lively
Letting people know when the audience grows or when someone jumps on stage keeps things engaging for viewers.

The chat is the entertainment
People watch the chat as much as the video or speakers, so all the reactions and chat features had to work just as well.