Discord launches its built-in store and Nitro games subscription
Discord remains ironically orderly
Another day, another place to buy and launch your games from, although Discord does has the advantage of already being on a huge number of PCs. The gaming-centric multi-chat service just launched its integrated game store, albeit in beta. A few temporary exclusives aside (Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption and Bad North seem noteworthy), it seems largely what you'd expect from a modern games storefront. Still, the upgraded Nitro subscription service - now including access to a library of games - might be worth a look for gaming on the cheap.
If you've got Discord installed, all you should need to do is close and re-open it to have the 'Store' tab appear, nestled gently between 'Library' and 'Friends.' Prices seem automatically adjusted at a reasonable rate to your local currency ($15 translates to £11.39 at present), and you can use credit cards or Paypal. So far, so standard. The store does launch with a handful of exclusives, including micro-RTS Bad North (which Matt gushed over previously) and the Souls-inspired boss rush Sinner: Sacrifice For Redemption, also due to debut via the Xbox Game Pass this week.
The store's most interesting part (for me, at least) is the Nitro subscription. Previously a $5 monthly sub to enable some minor perks on Discord (including high-res, 60fps screen-sharing), the old package is still available but a new $10 option seems to be the default. The more expensive tier gives you all of the old Nitro perks, plus access to a library of games, sixty at present but with more coming later. There's some good stuff in there, including offbeat Metroidvania Dandara, action-RTS Tooth And Tail, twitchy platformer Slime-san and the creatively weird Pony Island.
While I've not bought anything yet, so can't say if there's any last-minute snags with billing, this does seem to be one of the smoothest store launches I've seen in a while. I've been using Discord for ages as it does all the things I'd normally ask of IRC, forums, Skype and Teamspeak combined, so it's nice to see it expand further without causing too much disruption. I'm already subscribed to more than enough already, but the Nitro games provided do seem a good starter set for savvy players, with lots of indie gems in there. Credit where credit's due - this seems a pretty good launch.
A large chunk of RPS's community (a lovely lot) have carved out their own little Discord scene as well. Give them a visit.