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Ahead of WWDC 2025, Apple is sharing install stats for iOS 18 and iPadOS 18If you haven't installed iOS 18 yet, you're in the smaller group, as it's on 82% of all eligible devices Apple doesn't guarantee a number of years for software updates for its devicesHave you been using iOS 18 on your iPhone since it was released in September? Or maybe you’re in the camp of waiting a bit to upgrade until friends or family do, or you read reactions from those who’ve tested it.Well, regardless of which camp you’re in, Apple’s iOS 18 – and iPadOS 18, the operating system for the iPad – are officially eight months old. While that’s not a year, the company’s 2025 Worldwide Developer Conference is kicking off on Monday, June 9, with an opening keynote. We’re expecting the reveal of the next generation of iOS and other platforms.In the days leading up to that event, Apple is sharing the final usage numbers of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. While the tech giant doesn’t promise a specific number of years for software updates and equally essential security updates, iOS 18 supports up to iPhone XR/XS, and iPadOS 18 works on the iPad 7th Gen, iPad mini 5th Gen, iPad Pro 1st Gen, and iPad Air 1st Gen.That’s an extensive range of supported devices, and for iOS 18, 82% of all eligible iOS devices are running the latest and greatest from Apple. Regarding eligible devices released in the last four years, the installation rate is higher: 88%. Meanwhile, 71% of all iPads that can run iPadOS 18 have it installed, and iPads released in the last four years have an install ratio of about 81%.(Image credit: Apple)iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 were pretty big updates, as well – for one, it did start the rolling launch of Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 in October of 2024, but that remains incomplete, and the much-anticipated AI-powered Siri is still delayed. You can use features like Genmoji, Image Playground, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence on eligible iPhones or iPads that support Apple Intelligence.Beyond that suite, though, iOS 18 broke the so-called app grid, allowing you to place apps wherever you like – even with spaces in between – on the iPhone and iPad. It also lets you adjust the color or tone of your entire home screen, including app icons. The Photos app was redesigned and added customization, but wasn’t loved by everyone. Also, Apple finally added support for RCS messaging, as well as being able to rework the layout of Control Center.It was a solid, sizable release for iOS and iPadOS, which even got smaller updates and is currently sitting at iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5. Many of the features do work on devices as far back as the iPhone XR, though overall speed and battery life might vary.So if you haven’t updated to iOS 18 yet and you're on iPhone, Apple’s latest numbers do put you in the smaller group. That’s not a bad thing, but it's a good idea to keep your phone up to date beyond just the new features, as privacy and security updates are also included within these updates.(Image credit: Apple)But how does this compare to Android phones? As I wrote above, Apple doesn’t guarantee a timeframe, but you can see that it goes back six years for iPhones, as the XS was released in 2018. Samsung now guarantees most of its Galaxy phone lineup for seven years of software upgrades, while Google Pixel phones receive five years of updates for the Pixel 6 and older, and this increases to seven years for the Pixel 7 and newer. That means if you get a Pixel 9, you can expect updates through 2031. Depending on the model, Motorola offers three years of updates, and OnePlus offers four years.While we expect new versions of iOS and iPadOS at WWDC 2025, the rumor mill hasn’t mentioned Apple promising a specific number of years of software and privacy updates. That could happen, but I think the focus will be on the much-rumored ushering in of a Vision Pro-like design for the rest of the platforms – think glassy and sleek throughout.You might also likeI carried the Galaxy S25 Edge for two weeks and it slimmed down my pockets but didn’t blow me awayNothing confirms that its first over-ear headphones will be unveiled next month, alongside the Nothing Phone (3)Will your iPhone get iOS 26? This is the rumored support list for the rebranded iOS 19

After years of leaks and months of teasers, the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here. We've long known what the Switch 2 will look like, and when it'll arrive. We've told you how tariffs have affected Nintendo's launch plans, we've given you a step-by-step guide to pre-ordering and told you where to buy a Switch 2 on launch day. We gave you our first hands-on preview back in early April, told you how good of a first impression Mario Kart World makes and dug even deeper with our final preview earlier this week.

All that's left now is our full review, and reviews take time. While we put Nintendo's latest through its paces, you can catch up on everything you need to know about the Switch 2 below. If you want to follow the Engadget team's experiences with it on launch day, you can check out our Nintendo Switch 2 launch day live blog.

What are the key new features of the Nintendo Switch 2?

Display and dock

The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 1080p 7.9-inch display with a 120Hz refresh and HDR compatibility. It also supports up to 4K output at 120Hz (with variable refresh rates) when docked.

Joy-Con and Pro Controller

The new Joy-Con 2 for Nintendo Switch 2 attaches magnetically with a button to release them. They have larger SL and SR buttons (the ones hidden when the Joy-Con are attached) to make playing multiplayer games on individual Joy-Cons more feasible. These buttons are also made of steel and attach to the Switch 2's magnets.

The analog sticks are no longer tiny nubs, and are closer in size to the ones you might find on a PS5 or Xbox controller. However, they do not have Hall effect sensors, the use of which can minimize the risk of the "stick drift" issue that plagued the original Joy-Cons.

The Joy-Con 2 have what Nintendo is calling “HD Rumble 2” built in, which seems to be a refinement of the original (and still very good) vibration function. Finally, each Joy-Con 2 has an optical sensor that allows you to use it as a mouse, and a C button, which we’ll get to in a minute.

Nintendo

The new Pro Controller for the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with everything you’d expect based on the refreshed Joy-Con 2: Namely HD Rumble 2 and the C button. There are also remappable GL/GR buttons around the back and a standard audio jack for connecting a headset.

Both options come with Amiibo support built in. The Switch 2 comes with two Joy-Con 2, as you’d expect, and additional pairs are priced at $95. The Pro Controller will cost $85.

The C button stands for "chat"

The new C button is a dedicated way to enter a chat session with friends. As well as the standard features you’d expect from voice chat, Nintendo has built a Discord-like video-sharing feature, which lets you show your gameplay to others and see other people’s screens while you’re playing.

The GameChat function works with a mic built into the console, though headsets are also supported. Nintendo will also sell a $55 camera that plugs into the USB-C port on the top of the console, which will allow you to stream your face along with your game.

Nintendo

GameCube support

The Switch 2 will work with GameCube games via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. The three titles available at launch will be F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Soul Calibur II.

Improved specs

Perhaps the biggest feature, though, is one you can’t see: The Switch 2 has an all-new processor and GPU and significantly more storage (256GB vs 64GB in the Switch OLED), along with support for faster and more capacious microSD cards. This will obviously lead to better first-party games and upgraded Switch experiences, but more importantly it will mean multi-platform games that had to skip the original, underpowered Switch will be able to be ported over. With games like Cyberpunk 2077 coming to the Switch 2 at launch, it seems like far more ports will be feasible than on the original console.

Digital Foundry has been able to confirm a bunch of the details of the Switch 2's specs that Nintendo hasn't explained publicly, but the highlights are the consoles custom chip and faster storage. The Switch 2 uses a NVIDIA chip with eight ARM Cortex A78C cores, six of which are available to developers, and a GPU with the company's Ampere architecture. That's alongside 12GB of LPDDRX RAM and a custom FDE (file decompression engine) that decompresses game files without drawing power from the Switch 2's CPU.

Another major improvement comes in the form of networking — the Switch 2 supports Wi-Fi 6, which will improve the original's often glacial download speeds. Similarly, the new dock sports an Ethernet port for a rock-solid connection.

Virtual game cards

Virtual Game Cards are Nintendo’s way of making digital games replicate the experience of physical copies. They let you lend digital games to friends and family, letting them enjoy the game on their system without buying a separate copy.

Of course, there are caveats. Much like a physical cartridge, only one system can play each Virtual Game Card at a time. You can only loan games to up to eight people, and each will need to be on the same Nintendo Family Account and local network. Finally, you can only share one game at a time, and the lending period lasts only two weeks. Although that’s a healthy list of limitations, the feature is still more than other consoles have offered — and, if we’re lucky, it will be something Sony and Microsoft are pressured to adopt.

Perhaps best of all, the feature isn’t exclusive to the Switch 2. It’s already available for the first Switch.

Game-Key cards

Game-Key cards are physical Switch 2 games that only contain a portion of their game data. The first time you slot one in, your Switch 2 will download the rest of the game to your local storage and the Game-Key card becomes the "key" you need to use anytime you want to play it.

Nintendo says you'll have to have an internet connection the first time you boot up the game, but afterwards the card itself should be enough to let you play. You'll also be able to resell your Game-Key card in the same way you would a normal cartridge or disc.

This fusion of digital and physical has become fairly common on other consoles as the size of games has grown larger, but it's relatively novel for Nintendo. Since the Switch 2 is going to be running more demanding, high-fidelity games, though, it's a compromise that lets people still enjoy the common-sense benefits of physical game cards.

What's it like to play?

Nintendo gave the press a chance to check out the Switch 2 and a few of the games it highlighted. You can read our impressions of Mario Kart World as well as more general thoughts on how the Switch 2 feels in person. Right off the bat, Mario Kart World feels like an outstanding launch title, with more depth and better visuals than we've ever seen from a Mario Kart game. The core formula is intact, but there are a lot of new features and play styles to dig into.

As for the Switch 2 hardware, it feels like a major step forward from the original Switch — it has grown up a lot and feels far more polished and refined. And while it may not have an OLED screen, the 7.9-inch LED display Nintendo did use is outstanding.

When did the Nintendo Switch 2 come out?

Nintendo scheduled its launch for June 5, 2025. From a US perspective, the first consoles reached gamers' hands on June 4, with Australians and New Zealanders sharing images online and some streaming their experiences on Twitch and YouTube.

When did pre-orders open for Nintendo Switch 2?

Switch 2 pre-orders were initially set to begin on April 9, but the following week, Nintendo said it was suspending pre-order plans in the US "indefinitely" in reaction to a slate of tariffs imposed by President Trump.

Finally, when pre-orders opened on April 24, a hot mess ensued. Those who stayed up late trying to snag a Switch 2 were often left empty-handed as Walmart, Best Buy and Target’s websites weren’t fully equipped for the demand. Many customers were left with unmoving queues and error messages — a familiar process for many who’ve tried to pre-order a hot gaming or tech product in recent years. (Folks who pre-ordered a PS5 during the pandemic caught the nastiest case of deja vu.)

No retailers are currently taking Switch 2 pre-orders. Although there’s always the chance one will drop an unexpected stock refresh, your best option right now is to register your interest with Nintendo. That may not lead to a launch-day console, as Nintendo has warned, but it won’t likely be a crazy delay like those familiar to GPU buyers. And if your Nintendo cred ticks the right boxes (you have been subscribed to Switch Online for at least 12 months, have opted in to share gameplay data, and have at least 50 total gameplay hours), your odds will improve.

Costco is a dark-horse candidate for day-one availability. The retailer doesn’t appear to have taken any Switch 2 pre-orders, but a product listing claims it will have Mario Kart World console bundles in stock on launch day.

In any case, Nintendo says the console’s June 5 release date is unchanged.

In a somewhat disappointing update, Nintendo appears to be shipping "sold out" signs to retailers so that they can quickly let people know the Switch 2 isn't in stock. We can only read so much into that, but it seems likely that if you can't grab one on launch day from a retailer, you'll be waiting a while for them to come back in stock.

How much does the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?

On April 2, Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 would cost $450 standalone, or $500 with a bundled digital copy of the new Mario Kart game, Mario Kart World. That’s significantly more expensive than the original Switch, which launched at $300, and has remained at that price ever since. It’s also more expensive than the entry-level current-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft.

The comparison looks a little better up against Valve’s Steam Deck, which costs $400 for the LCD model or $550 for the basic OLED model. The Steam Deck is more affordable than most PC handhelds.

When Nintendo delayed the pre-orders from the original date of April 9, it said it was doing so "in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions." With heavy US tariffs levied on Nintendo's Asian production centers, the implication was that would have little choice but to pass at least some of those costs on to American consumers. But Trump's April 9 tariff pivot — reverting to 10 percent across the board for 90 days for all countries except China, which now gets a triple-digit hit — further muddied the waters. That's because it's unclear how much, if any, of the components and assembly of US-bound Switch 2 consoles will originate in China.

The administration exempted some electronics from reciprocal tariffs, but they'll soon be subject to new levies on semiconductors. Some analysts suggest that Nintendo will be selling consoles at a loss in the US with even a 10 percent tariff.

Nevertheless, the company is keeping the price of the Switch 2 at $450 and the Mario Kart World bundle at $450. However, it noted that it had to increase the prices of Switch 2 accessories "due to changing market conditions" and added that other price modifications may occur in the future for a similar reason.

How much do the Nintendo Switch 2 accessories cost?

When Nintendo announced the rescheduled Switch 2 pre-order date for the US and Canada, it confirmed price increases for many of the console's accessories. The current US prices for the accessories are as follows:

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller — $85

Joy-Con 2 Pair — $95

Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip — $40

Joy-Con 2 Strap — $14

Joy-Con 2 Wheel Set — $25

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera — $55

Nintendo Switch 2 Dock Set — $120

Nintendo Switch 2 Carrying Case & Screen Protector — $40

Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case — $85

Nintendo Switch 2 AC Adapter — $35

Samsung microSD Express Card – 256GB for Nintendo Switch 2 — $60

The price of the Joy-Con 2 strap has gone up by $1, but the prices of other products have risen by between $5 and $10, with the dock set getting the larger increase. Thankfully, your Nintendo Switch 2 will come with a dock. Nintendo also released a list of accessory prices for Canada.

How long will the Switch 2's battery last?

Nintendo says that the Switch 2 will last between 2 and 6.5 hours on a single charge. This is similar to the original Switch, which was rated for 2.5-6.5 hours, though later revisions upped that figure significantly. The company cautions that "this time is an estimate ... battery life will depend on the games you play and usage conditions."

Based on video Nintendo shared in the Nintendo Today app, one way the Switch 2 will extend the longevity of its battery over time is with a new "battery preservation mode." When enabled, your Switch 2 will stop charging when it reaches 90 percent, saving its battery from the wear and tear of charging to 100 percent every time. This is a fairly common feature on smartphones, and it makes sense for a handheld console you charge every day.

A new battery mode won't change the Switch 2's estimated battery life, but it will slow the damage charging the console has, which keeps it usable for longer.

Is the Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatible?

Nintendo confirmed in November 2024 that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible. It will also feature access to Nintendo Online, so users will be able to play all of those old retro titles.

In the initial Nintendo Switch 2 press release, Nintendo reiterated that physical and digital Switch games will work on the new system. However, it noted that "certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2." We now have more information on which games are working thanks to a guide Nintendo put together.

Nintendo's software compatibility chart on April 2, 2025.Nintendo

As of April 1, the vast majority of Switch 2 games are marked as compatible, but many popular games are said to have some issues. Nintendo has marked most of these as “under investigation,” suggesting a fix may be on the way in time for launch. Nintendo says it is manually testing every Switch game for compatibility.

Only one title is marked as incompatible: Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. This was part of Nintendo’s Labo range of games that worked with Cardboard accessories, and is incompatible as the Switch 2 doesn’t physically fit in the VR headset.

Will old games be enhanced in any way?

The original Switch has, to put it mildly, struggled to run some of the late-generation software that's come down the pike. Could these games be enhanced to take advantage of the increased horsepower of the Switch 2? That’s unclear. In an “Ask the Developer” page on its site, Nintendo says that old games are working through a real-time translation system, which sounds similar to how Rosetta allows modern Macs to run old software. With that said, the new and old Switch are much closer in hardware than that.

In the same developer interview, it’s said that in its testing of old games for compatibility, there were some occasions “where loading times became faster, or game performance became more stable,” but we don’t have any detail beyond that.

As well as backward compatibility, Nintendo is also offering up premium "Switch 2 Edition" upgrades for a select few games. These have improved resolutions and frame rates, and (in some cases) bonus features and content. What exactly that means will vary, but Nintendo did confirm that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have 4K/60 fps and 1080p/120 fps options on the Switch 2.

Games confirmed to have a Switch 2 Edition to date include:

Super Mario Party Jamboree

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

In the case of the two mainline Zelda games, those upgrades will be included with a Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership or cost $10 each. Upgrades for the other games are also paid, but Nintendo has not said how much those will cost.

What will the cartridges taste like?

You may remember that the original Switch cartridges taste absolutely awful. This was on purpose, to discourage folks from putting the games in their mouth.

Similarly, the Switch 2 carts are also said to taste terrible, in large part to stop children or pets from accidentally ingesting them. It is not yet clear what substance Nintendo has coated the Switch 2 cartridges in to make them taste foul, but Nintendo's Takuhiro Dohta advised against licking them all the same.

"We don't want anybody to be at risk of any unwanted consumption," he told GameSpot. "We have indeed made it so that if it enters your mouth, you'll spit it out."

What are the launch games?

We expect this list to change substantially over the coming weeks and months, but the titles currently confirmed to be available on day one follow:

Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster

Cyberpunk 2077

Deltarune

Fast Fusion

Fortnite

Hitman: World of Assassination

Hogwarts Legacy

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

Mario Kart World

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S

Split Fiction

Street Fighter 6

Survival Kids

Yakuza 0: Director's Cut

That's everything we know about the Nintendo Switch 2 today. We'll update this article with any information we can gather directly from sources. Any changes made to the article after its initial publishing will be listed below.

Update, January 24, 2025, 12:36 PM ET: This story has been updated to include speculation about price, potential game enhancements and the taste of cartridges.

Update, February 5, 2025, 9:30AM ET: This story has been updated to note the time when the April 2 Nintendo Direct starts.

Update, February 24, 2025, 12:30 PM ET: This story has been updated to include speculation about storage and information about the new microSD Express standard.

Update, March 6, 2025, 2:30PM ET: This story has been updated to note recent FCC filings to indicate the presence of Wi-Fi 6 and NFC support.

Update, March 14, 2025, 12:15PM ET: This story has been updated to include pricing and sales speculation from analysts.

Update, March 20, 2025, 12:45PM ET: Updated to include a note about the Seattle Mariners new jersey patches featuring Nintendo and the Switch 2.

Update, March 27, 2025, 3:50PM ET: Updated to add details about the C button, Nintendo Today! and Virtual Game Cards.

Update, April 1, 2025, 10:16AM ET: Updated to add link to livestream and details on its length.

Update, April 2, 2025, 4:40PM ET: Added details from the April 2 Nintendo Direct event, including specifications, price, release date and launch titles.

Update, April 4, 2025, 11:17AM ET: Added details about pre-orders being put on hold.

Update, April 7, 2025, 1:56PM ET: Added details about the Switch 2 cartridges still (reportedly) tasting terrible, the lack of Hall effect sensors in the controllers and game upgrade pricing.

Update, April 9, 2025, 5:41PM ET: Added context on how the changing rules on the Trump tariffs may or may not affect Switch 2 pricing in the US.

Update, April 11, 2025, 7:11PM ET: Re-affirmed that May 8 is when Nintendo is confirming the first batch of pre-orders through its site, after a faulty report online suggested otherwise.

Update, April 18, 2025, 10:33AM ET: Added details about the new pre-order date for the US and Canada, as well as accessory pricing.

Update, April 30, 2025, 3:24PM ET: Updated pre-order info and added a Virtual Game Card breakdown.

Update, May 14, 2025, 11:50PM ET: Added info on Game-Key cards, battery preservation mode, and the Switch 2's specs.

Update, June 5, 2025, 12PM ET: Introduction was rewritten and tenses (for example, "When will" became "When did") were updated throughout the article to reflect that the Switch 2 is now available.

Jeff Dunn contributed to this report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-has-officially-launched-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-143310136.html?src=rss

Whatever your opinion of X, you probably don't think of it as a platform known for fostering agreement. The company is apparently trying to change that, though, and is in the early stages of an experiment that aims to boost posts that are widely agreeable to the site's users.

With a new test, described by X as an "experimental pilot," the app will begin asking a small subset of users what they think of a particular post in their timeline. A screenshot shared by X shows that people can respond with a range of positive or negative opinions, like "it makes a meaningful point," "it's funny" or "it doesn't interest me." X will then use those responses to help it "develop an open source algorithm that could effectively identify posts liked by people from different perspectives."

The concept is somewhat similar to Community Notes, which already attempts to take differing perspectives into account when ranking fact checks. The new program, though, isn't about surfacing fact-checked content but boosting posts that are likely to be, well, liked.

X's post about the test suggests it has lofty goals. "This experimental new feature seeks to uncover ideas, insights, and opinions that bridge perspectives," the company wrote. "It can bring awareness to what resonates broadly. It could motivate people to share those ideas in the first place."

Whether an open source algorithm based on data about users' likes can actually accomplish that, though, is unclear. A report published today by Pew Research shows that there is still a significant partisan divide in terms of how X is perceived and experienced by users. Overcoming that could be more difficult than boosting a few extra posts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-tests-centrism-170939276.html?src=rss

RTX Pro 6000 beats the unreleased 5090 despite lacking important driversNvidia’s $10000 card was benchmarked across multiple modern game titlesExtreme power noise and price make it impractical for most would-be buyersNvidia’s RTX Pro 6000 might not be marketed as a gaming GPU, but overclocking expert Roman ‘der8auer’ Hartung has shown it can outperform every consumer card Nvidia makes, and that includes the yet-to-be-released RTX 5090.In his latest video, which you can watch below, der8auer benchmarked the $10,000 Blackwell-based workstation GPU across multiple titles, calling it “the new gaming king.”Unlike the RTX 5090, which uses the same GB202 chip, the Pro 6000 sports 24,064 CUDA cores, more Tensor and RT cores, and a massive 96GB of GDDR7 memory.Coil whineIt lacks Nvidia’s Game Ready Drivers, but der8auer notes this didn’t seriously affect gaming performance. In 4K Cyberpunk 2077 tests (without ray tracing), the Pro 6000 pulled 14% ahead of the RTX 5090, though it also used 15% more power.Performance across other titles echoed that trend. The card was 11% faster in Star Wars Outlaws and Remnant 2, and 3% faster in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the latter possibly held back by driver limitations.Power draw and heat are challenges, with the card reaching 600W during gaming. Noise was another factor. According to der8auer, the fan ramps up aggressively, and the coil whine was the loudest he’s ever heard.While the Pro 6000 is clearly dominant in raw performance, its price point makes it unreachable for most.Der8auer noted that although the card has three times the VRAM of the RTX 5090, the price is five times higher. He estimated the 64GB of additional VRAM might cost $200 more to produce, but that doesn’t justify the $8,000 difference for consumers.Still, for those chasing the absolute peak of performance - and willing to overlook coil whine and noise - the RTX Pro 6000 has set a new bar. Just don’t expect it to be practical for most gamers.Via Tom's HardwareYou might also likeWant to carry an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 to your laptop? Try this eGPU chassisNvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition is an enhanced version of the RTX 5090Nvidia is dreaming of trillion-dollar data centers with millions of GPUs

Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy wants you to know he thinks a lot about enshittification. With reports of an upcoming IPO and the news of his co-founder, Jason Citron, recently stepping down to hand leadership of the company over to Humam Sakhnini, a former Activision Blizzard executive, many Discord users are rightfully worried the platform is about to become, well, shit.

"I understand the anxiety and concern," Vishnevskiy told Engadget in a recent call. "I think the things that people are afraid of are what separate a great, long-term focused company from just any other company." According to Vishnevskiy, the concern that Discord could fail to do right by its users or otherwise lose its way is a topic of regular discussion at the company.

"I'm definitely the one who's constantly bringing up enshittification," he said of Discord's internal meetings. "It's not a bad thing to build a strong business and to monetize a product. That's how we can reinvest and continue to make things better. But we have to be extremely thoughtful about how we do that."

The way Vishnevskiy tells it, Discord already had an identity crisis and came out of that moment with a stronger sense of what its product means to people. You may recall the company briefly operated a curated game store. Discord launched the storefront in 2018 only to shut it down less than a year later in 2019. Vishnevskiy describes that as a period of reckoning within Discord.

"We call it embracing the brutal facts internally," he said of the episode. When Vishnevskiy and Citron started Discord, they envisioned a platform that would not just be for chatting with friends, but one that would also serve as a game distribution hub. "We spent a year building that component of our business and then, quite frankly, we quickly knew it wasn't going well."

Out of that failure, Discord decided to focus on its Nitro subscription and embrace everyone who was using the app to organize communities outside of gaming. Since its introduction in 2017, the service has evolved to include a few different perks, but at its heart, Nitro has always been a way for Discord users to get more out of the app and support their favorite servers. For instance, the $3 per month Basic tier allows people to use custom emoji and stickers on any server, and upload files that are up to 50MB. The regular tier, which costs $10 per month, includes 4K streaming, 500MB uploads and more. They're all nice-to-haves, but the core functions remain free.

Marissa Leshnov for Discord

Vishnevskiy describes Nitro as a "phenomenal business," but the decision to look beyond gaming created a different set of problems. "It wasn't clear exactly who we were building for, because now Discord was a community product for everyone, and that drove a lot of distractions," he said.

That sense of mission drift was further exacerbated by the explosive growth Disord saw during the pandemic, as even more new users turned to the platform to stay in touch with friends during lockdown. "It covered up all the things that we didn't fully clarify about how we want to approach things," said Vishnevskiy. "We came out stronger. A lot of people were introduced to Discord, and it's their home now, but it's probably part of what made it take longer to realize some of the decisions we made at the time weren't right."

One of those was a brief flirtation with the Web3 craze of 2021. That November, Citron tweeted a screenshot of an unreleased Discord build with integrations for two crypto wallet apps. The post sparked an intense backlash, with users threatening to cancel their Nitro subscriptions if the company went forward with the release. Two days later, Citron issued a statement saying Discord would not ship the integration.

"We weren't trying to chase a technology. It was about allowing people to use Discord in a certain way, and that came with a lot of downsides. We were trying to do some integrations to limit some scams, and actually do right by users and make people safer," said Vishnevskiy. "But we really underestimated the sensitivity the general user base had to the topic of NFTs, and we did not do a really good job at explaining what we were trying to do."

According to reporting from that period, Discord's employees were partly responsible for the reversal. An internal server made up of workers and game studio representatives reportedly erupted over the proposed implementation.

Looking back, Vishnevskiy credits the company's employees, some of whom have been with Discord for a decade, for steering leadership in the right direction over the years. He says there have been situations where the company's employees have come to him and Citron to ask "why are we doing this?" He adds, "sometimes, they've pushed us to do things [Jason and I] didn't think we should be doing. I think that's an amazing asset to have. This product is built by people who love it and use it."

Coming out of the pandemic, Discord announced last year it would refocus on gaming. In the immediate future, that shift of strategy will see the company emphasize "simple things" like app performance and useability over "building new features." In March, users got a taste of that new approach, with the company releasing a redesign of its PC overlay that made it less likely to trigger anti-cheat systems like BattleEye. In turn, that made the overlay compatible with a greater number of the most-played games on Discord. In that same release, Discord added three new UI density options to give users more control over the look and feel of the app.

Moving forward, one area where the company wants to be particularly thoughtful is around AI. Discord has deployed the tech in a few areas – for example, it partnered with Krisp AI in 2019 to add noise cancellation to calls – but it also has wound down experiments that didn't work. "What we've found is that a lot of these things did not work well enough to be in the product," said Vishnevskiy, pointing to features like AutoMod.

The tool exists in Discord right now. Moderators can use it to filter for specific words and phrases. But when the company first pitched the feature, it envisioned an AI component that would help admins manage large, unruly servers, and even built a version of it that ran on a large language model. The company has yet to ship the feature because "it was making too many mistakes." Discord also experimented briefly with a built-in chatbot called Clyde that leveraged tech from OpenAI, but canned it less than a year later. At the time, the company didn't give a reason for the shutdown, but the occasional screenshots posted to the Discord subreddit showed Clyde could, often unprompted, say some questionable things.

"We're constantly retrying some of those ideas with modern models. No timeline on any of this because we will not ship until we think it's a good fit for the product," said Vishnevskiy, adding the last thing the company wants to do is "slap [AI] in because everyone else is doing it."

Looking to the future, Vishnevskiy says Discord is focused on helping game developers, especially as it relates to discovery. The majority of the most popular games on Discord are the same ones that were popular on the platform 10 years ago. That's where Vishnevskiy says the app's new Orbs currency comes in, which people can earn by watching interactive ads, playing a game, or streaming their gameplay to friends on Discord. Yes, it's a way for Discord to grow its revenue, but Vishnevskiy believes the system aligns player interests with developer interests by giving Discord users something in return for their time and attention.

At least that's the idea. I got to try the system after my interview with Vishnevskiy, and while it does feel friendly to users, I'd like to see how Discord plans to make it into something smaller game studios can leverage. Right now, many of the publishers the company has partnerships with are advertising releases that already have a lot of word of mouth going for them. I'm sure fans of Marvel Rivals will love the chance to earn an Ultron avatar decoration for their Discord, but a game with 147,000 concurrent players on Steam isn't exactly struggling.

Vishnevskiy wouldn't discuss the specifics of when and if the company plans to IPO, but did offer one last assurance for users. "Discord is something that is meant to be a durable company that has a meaningful impact on people's lives, not just now but in 10 years as well," he said. "That's the journey that Hammond joined and signed up for too. We are long-term focused. Our investors are long-term focused."

While it may be true that the Vishnevskiy and Discord's veteran employees have learned a lot over the company's sometimes turbulent history, it's not clear how a culture of experimentation and dissent might change with more shareholders to appease. The test will be whether Discord can stay true to itself and its many users.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/discords-cto-is-just-as-worried-about-enshittification-as-you-are-173049834.html?src=rss