In an ongoing effort to offer alternatives to and bridges off Discord, FreeGameDev.net has been operating a modern IRC network since a few months now. Please don't use Discord for FOSS projects.

You can always join us on #general discussion and ask questions:

This thread is to document some features and how to set things up nicely with it.

We already convinced some of our friends to move their official IRC presence here, such as #opengameart, #flarerpg, #tiled and a few other lesser known projects. We also bridge quite a few FOSS game projects to their channels both on libera.chat and Discord or through Matrix.

If you are a FOSS game developer don't hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to set everything up for you! Including a Discord bridge if you want to jump ship with us without immediately cutting all ties to an existing community there 😎

IRC might not be the newest cool stuff, but our fully IRCv3 compatible Ergo server is actually much nicer then older servers used by larger networks like libera.chat. Yes, it supports chat history and multi-client connections out of the box without the need to set up a "bouncer" or advanced IRC client with server component. Connecting through a browser is also pretty seamless using the Javascript Kiwi IRC client.

In addition all our channels are seamlessly accessible through XMPP using a dedicated Biboumi gateway. Just use a JID like #general@irc.freegamedev.net as the address for the MUC/IRC channel hybrid. Works automatically with any channel (more on that below).

Edit: A Matrix portal is also available. Matrix clients can connect using this address syntax: #irc_#example:matrix.f-hub.org.

ToDo:

Setup new Matrix bridge and invite page
Setup alternative XMPP gateway and invite page
Maybe add vanity addresses on freegamedev.net for Matrix?
Add Matrix gateway and invite links to https://irc.freegamedev.net page
Add KiwiIRC webchat to https://irc.freegamedev.net/kiwiirc
Redirect to new KiwiIRC from https://freegamedev.net/irc
Add chat widget to Flarum forum (modify Discord widget)