(NewsUSA) - Gaming has transformed over the past three decades. In 1999, fewer than one in five players reported playing online, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), and today, nearly 90 percent do. As gaming has become increasingly social, it has evolved into a digital third place where people come together to play, connect, and build community.

The ESA also found that 67 percent of Americans ages 5 to 90 play video games at least an hour a week, and across the country, friendships and relationships that begin over a game controller are increasingly spilling off the screen and into people's lives. Discord has become the digital living room where those friendships actually live and grow — where players text, talk, and video chat, both during games and in the stretches between them. Discord broadens the cultural role of “digital third places” beyond a single game to a space where all your gaming friends play.

Discord, which is free to join, is different from other platforms — there are no algorithmic feeds, no broadcasting of your life, and no endless scrolling. People connect through 1:1 Direct Messages, Group Direct Messages, and Servers, which are invite-based communities organized around a game, a friend group, or a shared interest. Activity happens in small, private spaces among friends, where high-quality streaming and voice chat across devices let people hang out together as naturally as if they were in the same room. Discord now counts more than 90 million daily active users worldwide, and gaming remains the center of gravity: 89% of Discord users play games.

Gene Ludington from Pennsylvania has gamed with the same group of friends for more than 20 years. The tools have changed, but the group hasn't. “We can voice chat, video chat, text, share memes, videos, pics, and gifs, or stream what we're most excited about,” he said. For his circle, Discord has “become the communication glue that holds us all together.”

That glue is critical for maintaining friendships across distances. And nobody understands this better than veterans. Stack Up, a nonprofit founded in 2015 to support military veterans through gaming, has built its community on Discord — with weekly game nights, town halls, and a peer support channel staffed around the clock by trained volunteers. Because the community spans time zones, someone is always available to connect.

Video games offer a shared activity and a low-pressure reason to keep showing up, similar to a Saturday softball league or a weekly pickup game. According to research by CivicScience, adults who play team sports report better social and mental health outcomes than those who play individually, and similarly, a recent study from researchers at Imperial College London found that gamers feel less alone than non-gamers.

It’s no wonder that gaming has grown to look so much like traditional athletics. When the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) formed in 2016, only seven colleges and universities had varsity esports programs. Today, NACE supports 300 programs across the country, helping students compete, earn scholarships, and build lifelong friendships with teammates and the broader esports community.

The bonds created through gaming often transcend the game itself. When Faith Hobart from Kansas City, Kansas got married last January, many of the guests in the room were people the couple had first met through a video game.

Hobart and her husband connected on January 1st, 2021, and added each other on Discord. It was there that they spent hours talking about their futures, playing together, and ultimately falling in love. Four years to the day later, they married, and many of the people in the online community they'd built were there in person. “They saw our relationship grow from friends, to developing crushes, to dating, getting engaged, and finally getting married,” she said.

The guests weren’t there because of a game. They were there because conversations that started on Discord became a community, then friendships, then — for the Hobarts — a marriage.

Getting started is easy. Discord is free to download on phones, consoles, or desktops, and setting up an account only takes a few minutes. From there, you can connect with your friends that you already game with, or join an existing Server built around the games and interests you love. Joining a Server takes just one click — no matter if it's a link a friend sends you, or one you find by browsing Discord's directory of communities. Whether you’re looking to reconnect with your longtime crew or make your first gaming friend, the front door to your digital third space is open.