Have you ever thought that the communication software Discord uses up too much of your PC’s resources? If so, then there’s good news, as the service has announced that it’s rolling out what it calls a Game Mode next week. The mode will reduce the software’s CPU and GPU usage while a game is running. Crucially, though, the mode does not seem to improve memory usage, which is likely a larger issue, especially for low-end PCs.
The feature was first seen by X account @DiscordPreviews, which posted a screenshot of the Game Mode toggle within the software’s settings page. The account notes that, as part of the CPU and GPU usage reduction, it will be cutting down on animations and disabling effects when it detects a game being played. More recently, the company has confirmed via its own official X account that the feature will be rolling out starting next week, and that the mode “is an early experiment”.
It is worth pointing out, as many other reports on the matter have, that the Discord desktop software is built using the Electron framework, which uses JavaScript and Chromium for creating software. One other example of Chromium-based software is the Google web browser Chrome, which, quite infamously, takes up a lot of RAM. While CPU and GPU usage reductions are nice, it would probably be better if the software was also more memory-efficient.
Last week, Discord finally rolled out age verification across its platform, using less intrusive methods of determining a user’s age like account age and connection to other communities, servers, and games. This hasn’t quite quelled the backlash over needing verification, especially for those who do not automatically pass as adults based on account signals. Ultimately, other forms of verification still see data being sent to third parties, increasing points of failure via potential data breaches.
(Source: @DiscordPreviews, Discord)
