- Discord’s age verification plans push users to alternative platforms
- Stoat, formerly known as Revolt, is having capacity issues handling an influx of Discord leavers
- Discord is apparently sticking to its plan to adopt global age verification measures in March
Discord hasn’t done itself any favors so far this year, with plans to implement age verification measures globally on the platform in March, following the introduction of the policy for UK users due to the Online Safety Act. These changes are still weeks away, but the impact is already clear.
As reported by Destructoid, an alternative Discord platform, Stoat, is facing capacity issues due to a large number of Discord users leaving the service to avoid these age verification plans.
Stoat’s status page indicates that performance on the social platform has gone downhill, with a note that: “There are just too many people, but we’re trying our best.”
It’s worth noting that Stoat was previously named Revolt, but rebranded in 2025, keeping the same team and maintaining the app’s interface.
Fortunately for those who flock to Stoat, the interface is similar to Discord’s, but with the benefit of free themes and customization (whereas with Discord this is locked behind the Nitro subscription paywall).
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The battle for Discord deserters
While servers and voice chat are available on Stoat, there are no screen sharing options, which can be a deal-breaker for many (I know it is for me).
However, that hasn’t stopped a flood of people joining the platform, and with Discord showing no signs of reversing its ID verification plans, we’re likely to see more defectors heading to various alternative services (such as Root).
There is likely to be a huge battle for the attention of those fleeing Discord.
While ID verification isn’t mandatory, those who don’t go through the process will have ‘teen-by-default’ settings, which limits quite a few facets of the Discord experience and is far from ideal.
The other part of the controversy here, of course, is Discord’s data breach in 2025. That has left some people understandably skeptical, with trust issues around handing out personal data, with many seemingly unwilling to take that chance.
The question is: at what point can the number of opting out members cause Discord to reconsider its current stance on ID verification?
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