Discord co-founder and CEO Jason Citron has stepped down after a decade leading the gaming instant messaging and VoIP platform.
Former King president and Activision Blizzard vice chairperson, Humam Sakhnini, will assume the CEO role from April 28, whilst Citron will remain on the board and “transition to a role as advisor to the CEO.”
Co-founder, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, will remain in his position as chief technology officer.
“Building Discord over the last decade has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. From the very beginning, our mission has been about bringing people together around games,” Citron said.
“It’s a mission I’ve dedicated my career to, and I’m confident that passing the torch to Humam is the right evolution for Discord’s future. His deep gaming industry expertise and proven track record of scaling businesses while fostering genuine friendships through play and shared experiences positions us perfectly for our next phase of growth. I believe this transition will accelerate our momentum and unlock even greater possibilities for Discord, our consumers, partners, and the overall gaming ecosystem in the years ahead.”
“I’m incredibly excited to join Discord at such a pivotal moment. Discord stands as a massive, foundational part of the gaming ecosystem that millions of players, developers, and publishers rely on every day,” Sakhnini added.
“What Jason and Discord co-founder and CTO Stan Vishnevskiy have built is truly remarkable – a platform with an undeniable product-market fit where hundreds of millions of people connect around their passion for gaming and shared interests. I look forward to working with Stan and Discord’s talented team to scale our business while staying true to the company’s core mission and the special connection it has with player communities.”
Earlier this week, GamesIndustry.biz reported that Nintendo of America has requested a subpoena for online community platform Discord as it attempts to reveal the identity of the person behind October 2024’s Pokémon “teraleak”.