Staff Picks, May 2025: The Games That Brought Us to Discord (opens in new tab)
Discord’s May 2025 Staff Picks reflects on the games that first brought several employees to Discord and the titles they currently enjoy with friends. The stories show Discord’s role as a social bridge: it helped college students connect during quarantine, friends maintain relationships across time zones, and console players transition to PC gaming. Across the examples, shared play and conversation matter more than winning. ## Christina: Among Us, R.E.P.O., and VALORANT - Christina, a Product Marketing team member and former college ambassador, first used Discord extensively during the 2020 quarantine period. - **Among Us** became her entry point because it was easy to organize for casual hangouts and college club events. - She created a server connecting friends from different colleges, eventually hosting multiple full lobbies and forming new friendships. - Her current favorite is **R.E.P.O.**, a cooperative horror game featuring proximity chat and chaotic physics. - She also regularly plays **VALORANT**, mainly in five-person groups. She began as a Neon player and has recently played more Clove, valuing the group’s humor and camaraderie even during losses. ## Emi: PUBG, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Warzone - Emi recalls playing **PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)** with friends in 2017 after moving back from Japan. - Discord helped the group coordinate across Japan and other time zones, supporting weekend gaming sessions that continue roughly every other week. - Emi’s friends are revisiting **Baldur’s Gate 3**, taking advantage of additions such as mod support and new subclasses. - The game has become a relaxed “coffee time” activity, with players either starting new campaigns or returning to unfinished saves. - The group has also returned to **Call of Duty: Warzone’s Verdansk map**, enjoying its mixture of social downtime, exploration, and combat. - The release of Ranked Play is expected to encourage even more Warzone sessions. ## Jeremy: League of Legends and the Move to PC - Jeremy originally played exclusively on console before friends introduced him to **League of Legends** and Discord in 2018. - Watching friends stream normal matches in their shared server helped him become part of the group. - The experience shifted him almost entirely toward PC gaming. - He previously specialized in Brand support but now plays champions such as Nasus and Illaoi in the top lane. - The shared Discord server remains an active weekend gathering place for the group. The post’s examples suggest that Discord’s lasting appeal comes from making games more social and accessible. Whether through quarantine-era party games, long-distance battle royales, cooperative horror, or persistent gaming communities, the platform helps friends keep playing and staying connected over many years.