Sony's PS5 is said to be getting proper integration with Discord and streaming of PS5 games in the next major update

This is according to Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming (opens in new tab), who also believes that the 700 update will allow PS5 games to be streamed directly from the cloud Henderson is also confident that the update will launch on March 8

PS5 and PS4 users will be able to link their PSN accounts to Discord starting in January 2022, but this offers a limited feature set that focuses primarily on sharing what they are playing rather than communicating with other users (new Open in tab), which only offers

We may be living in the age of cross-play, but there is currently no universal voice communication system between Xbox, PlayStation, and PC gamers; the arrival of Discord on PlayStation will rectify this and allow different It is hoped that it will make it easier to buddy up with friends on different platforms Xbox, on the other hand, has full access to Discord starting in 2022 Currently, there is no mention of PS4 users being integrated into Discord voice chat

Along with proper Discord integration, Henderson, who has a reasonable track record of accurate gaming information and leaks, claims that the PS5 700 update will enable streaming of PS5 games" Apparently under a project called "Cronus

The PS5 supports streaming PS4, PS3, and PS2 games via the cloud, but this feature is not available for PS5 games However, this update could change this situation if you are willing to pay for it

This is because PS5 game streaming will reportedly be locked to the PlayStation Plus premium tier, which currently costs $1799/£1349/$2195 AUD per month

PlayStation Plus Premium is Sony's equivalent of Xbox Game Pass, which allows users to download PS5 and PS4 games as well as stream classic PlayStation titles Unlike rival services, however, it does not offer exclusive games upon release

Thankfully, Henderson does not suggest that Discord's functionality will be locked into the paid features of PlayStation Plus This also makes sense, as it is unlikely that Sony would want to lock the community out of conversations with friends

After all, Discord is free to use on rival platforms If Sony were to put a paywall on PlayStation hardware, many users would surely opt to use Discord on another device instead Furthermore, the Discord features available on PS5 and PS4 are completely free to access

It would be disconcerting for fans of big free-to-play games if a PlayStation Plus subscription were required in order to have full access to Discord Currently, games such as "Fortnite," "Call of Duty: Warzone," and "Apex Legends" do not require an online subscription in order to play, and given the benefits of voice chat in these games, a paid form would put non-subscribers at a disadvantage would put non-subscribers at a disadvantage

Of course, all of the above should be taken with a grain of salt These new PS5 features have not been confirmed by Sony Fortunately, if Henderson's information is correct and console update 700 will indeed be released in early March, there should be an official announcement soon