Discord is a digital communications platform that has gained an immense popularity in the gaming community due to its ease of use.
The platform earned praise with its high-quality audio and video calls, which can be easily accessed with other desktop applications open.
Discord has been going strong since 2015 by catering to dedicated online communities, and now rivals US social media giants Instagram and Facebook.
As social media and augmented reality (AR) platforms expand together, distinguished social media players look to blur the lines between the two platforms.
Numerous firms have entered the market, with Snapchat recently planning to develop a pair of AR spectacles. In 2021, TikTok also announced AR Effects and Google updated its ARCore.
Social media firms are also recognising the value of the metaverse as developers buy out AR startups.
A metaverse is a shared virtual space and a natural transition from social media. Both allow users to create and share content, but the metaverse significantly boosts how users interact in cyberspace.
Today, users can log into metaverse platforms such as Virbela or Spatial to create otherworldly selfies and the perfect avatar with eCommerce options.
The news comes as Discord begins stepping up efforts in the virtual world to remain relevant amid fierce competition from rival social media platforms.
The Ubiquity6 Acquisition
San Francisco-based AR cloud provider Ubiquity6 was founded the same year Google led an initial funding drive of $37.5 million for the start-up in 2018.
The funding led to the development of the Display.Land studio, a web-AR tool that supports 3D scanning and sharing between users.
The startup later launched Backyard, a video call application allowing parties to play games in a shared AR space, in 2020.
When Ubiquity6 announced the Discord acquisition, it explained Backyard would be discontinued and incorporated into the Discord platform.
Anjney Midha, CEO and Co-founder of Ubiquity6, said in a statement on the Backyard website:
“Our platform, games and activities have found a new home there [at Discord], and we’re excited to share more in the coming months about bringing the best of Backyard to Discord”
Partnering with Discord gives Ubiquity6 brilliant support and Discord’s incredibly large user base will pay greater attention to the efforts of The Backyard Team.
