Discord Finally Gets Official YouTube Integration

thegamer.com:

YouTube had a problem with Discord bots. Google never explicitly stated why, but likely had to do with issues surrounding copyrights and monetization, with those Discord bots essentially scraping YouTube for audio and video without going through the site or its advertising network.

So, Google killed Groovy, the Discord chatbot that let you inject YouTube audio into your weekly D&D sessions. Over a year later, Discord and YouTube have mended their strained relationship with a new feature called YouTube Watch Together, which allows Discord users to synchronize their viewing of YouTube videos with just a few clicks.

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It’s part of a new Discord feature called Activities. These Activities will be available through a new rocket ship button right next to the share screen button. Clicking it will let all users take part in two Activities, including Watch Together and mini putt casual game Putt Party. If a friend is already performing either activity, you can join by clicking the "join activity" button.

Discord Nitro users will gain access to some additional casual games, including Poker Night, Sketch Heads, Chess in the Park, Checkers in the Park, Land-io, Letter League, and Blazing 8s. Some of these games will have user caps, but some--like Chess in the Park--won’t. This allows for massive YouTube parties or big homegrown Chess tourneys.

Discord is also rolling out a new entry-level Nitro plan to get people into this suite of casual games. Discord Nitro Basic charges $2.99 and provides access to all these games as well as custom emojis and uploads up to 50MB, but doesn’t provide server boosts, HD video streaming, animated avatars, or custom profiles