How to stream PS5 to Discord without remote play

With PS Remote Play, launch games installed on your PlayStation® from your phone. As long as your PlayStation® is connected to power and the internet and powered on, you can start new games or jump back in from virtually anywhere in the world*.

*A PS4™ or PS5™ and broadband internet is required to stream your games to other devices. For more information, please visit PS Remote Play Support

Discord integration is finally rolling out to PS5 and PS4 players, starting in the US and gradually coming to other countries over the next few weeks. This follows Sony's May 2021 announcement that PlayStation will be partnering with Discord, and it looks like that partnership is finally bearing fruit.

As reported by Eurogamer (opens in new tab), the PlayStation and Discord partnership was – until now – something of a mystery in terms of what form the integration would take on Sony's hardware. Now, though, an official Discord blog (opens in new tab) has spilled the beans – and the integration is a touch underwhelming.

"Starting today," the post details, "we're gradually rolling out the ability to link your PSN account from Discord and display your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 game activity in your user profile!"

Essentially, the integration means that your Discord friends will be able to see which game you're currently playing on PS5 or PS4, but it's not the first time such a feature has been made available on the popular chat app.

Support for PlayStation hardware comes well after the ability to link your Discord account to both Xbox Series X/S and Steam, as well as to huge streaming apps like Twitch and Spotify.

In addition to displaying their current game activity, users can also choose to display their PlayStation Network ID on their Discord account. This is arguably the more useful feature, as it lets your Discord pals easily add you to their PlayStation friends list – great for an impromptu session of Apex Legends or Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel.

PS5's Discord integration is a little underwhelming

Back when PlayStation announced its partnership with Discord in 2021, we wondered just how robust a feature set both parties could bring to PS5 and PS4. For example, having your Discord servers' voice-chat rooms accessible on console would have been a fantastic feature, especially considering the app's call quality has most of its competition beat.

Perhaps integration with PlayStation's Trophies could also have been implemented, with, for example, the option to auto-share screenshots to selected Discord servers whenever you've earned a particularly elusive Trophy; although perhaps such a system would be too open to abuse, especially as it could allow naughtier users to spam messages to servers where sharing such content would be unwarranted.

What we've ended up with on PS5 and PS4, then, is very similar – if not identical – to Discord's offerings on Xbox Series X/S and Steam. While being able to display your game status and online IDs on Discord is a nice feature, we hope all parties involved are open to expanding their feature sets, especially as Discord seems pretty immovable in the online chat space at present.

A ) Time elapsed
Keep track of how long you've been broadcasting.

B ) Viewers
The number of people watching your broadcast.

C ) Broadcasting options
Mute or unmute mic
When your viewers can hear your voice, try narrating your gaming experience.

Camera options
Turn your camera on or off. When it's on, position the camera feed on your screen.

Overlay options
Display Chat: See what your viewers have to say by showing the chat. You can even have the comments read aloud to you by turning on chat to speech.

Display Activity: View updates such as new viewers and new followers.

Position: Move the chat display on the screen to where it's most convenient for you.

D ) Pause Broadcast
Use this feature to tell your viewers to hold on while you step away for a moment. Your camera feed is put on hold, and all audio is muted until you get back.

E ) Stop Broadcast
End your live stream.

There are multiple options you can take when it comes to which you stream to, with two of the most common being to stream via YouTube or Twitch.tv. One new feature is the ability to stream your PS5 to Discord. But how do you do that?

How to Stream PS5 to Discord

The PS Remote App is available on a multitude of devices. In addition to PC and Mac, you can also download it to Android and iOS devices, allowing you to play your PS5 games streamed to one of these devices. However, Discord on mobile does not have screen streaming as it does on PC, so you will not be able to stream your gameplay this way.

In addition to the PS5, you can also use the PS Remote Play app to stream from a PS4 console using similar methods. On the PS Remote Play app, just have the app search for your last-used PS4 instead of PS5, and stream the app using Discord.

1. Download the PS Remote Play app

In order to stream your PS5 gameplay to Discord, you need to have both the PS5 and a computer to function. This is because streaming your PS5 to Discord requires you to download a program on your PC called the PS Remote Play app.

This app is very self-explanatory, serving to allow you to have your PS5’s gameplay be displayed on your PC through the app. The PS Remote Play app is free, and can be downloaded on the official PlayStation website here.

2. Set up the PS5 to work with PS Remote Play

Once the app has been downloaded to your PC, follow the installation instructions and then sign in with your PlayStation account. Be sure that you use the same account that is signed in to your PS5. You may also need to download additional files for the PS Remote Play app to function properly. Next, power on your PS5, and navigate to the Settings menu. Select System, then Power Saving, before finally entering the Features Available in Rest Mode menu. Turn on both Stay Connected to the Internet and Enable Turning on PS5 from Network.

3. Connect your PS5 controller to PC

Next, connect your PS5 controller to your PC using a USB cable, and open the PS Remote Play app. Select the PS5 option in this app, and it will search for the last PS5 that your account has signed into. Once it connects, you will see your PS5’s footage displayed on this app, and you will now be able to play your PS5 and use Windows on the same monitor at the same time.

4. Share Your Screen on Discord

To stream it using Discord, sign in to Discord (either through the Discord app or the website). Enter a voice call, which can be done either in a server or private message. Select the Share Your Screen option, and select the PS Remote Play app to begin streaming your gameplay. Do note, however, that sounds from your computer besides the voice call and the PS Remote Play app may be picked up on this stream.

Is Discord a good way to stream PS5 games?

When it comes to Discord streaming, it differs in quite a few ways compared to, say, Twitch or YouTube streaming. The reason for this is because streaming on Discord typically has a smaller viewer base. Mainly, most people who stream games on Discord are usually streaming for a small group of friends, rather than putting out their gameplay for any and every person who has an account to watch it.

Streaming to Discord is also not as convenient as streaming using Twitch or YouTube, mainly due to the fact that there is not an app that you can download to open Discord on your PS5. However, there are some benefits to streaming using the PS Remote Play app instead.

Why does my PS5 tell me that I’m in a blocked scene?

One thing about the PS4 and PS5 does that invites criticism by many players is the fact that certain scenes do not show while you are streaming. This happens with certain games where the developer does not want people to be able to see cutscenes or simply because the developer does not want the game to be streamed at all.

However, because the PS Remote Play app uses a different method of streaming your content than the Twitch and YouTube streaming apps do, this does not present a problem, thankfully, as the PS5 is not capable of detecting that you are streaming in the first place. This can be especially annoying, especially with games that use this blocking feature far too often.

Can you save VODs of your PS5 gameplay streamed to Discord?

Saving VODs is one of the best features of using a website like Twitch.tv or YouTube for streaming. VODs stand for “video on demand,” and is basically just a full recording of your stream, saved to the website. But can you save VODs of Discord streams in this same way? Unfortunately, Discord has no way to save your streams, so if you want to do that, you would be better served by using a streaming app on your PS5. You can then access these VODs on their respective websites, and then save them to your computer, phone, or tablet.

Is there a way to stream PS5 on Discord?

Can you stream from PlayStation to Discord?