Summary
- Discord ads are integrated into the Quests system, providing rewards for user interaction.
- There are two types of quests: Video Quests involve watching ads, and Play Quests involve gameplay.
- Discord offers a Nitro subscription with customization options and exclusive perks for users.
Discord has become one of the most popular communication apps in the world, and for good reason. It makes it easy to talk with friends and others through voice calls, video calls, direct messaging, and more. It’s become the go-to spot for gamers to hop on a server and play with friends. Discord is free to download and use, and to make revenue, the company offers a Discord Nitro subscription, which offers exclusive perks, and a system called Quests, which serves as third-party ads that users can interact with to earn rewards.
Quests are currently available on its PC app, and Discord recently announced that it will bring third-party ads to its mobile platform this June.
“Expanding our advertising platform to mobile is an obvious, natural evolution in our strategy. Our mission is to create the most authentic, player-centric advertising platform in the galaxy,” Discord said in a press release. “This expansion will provide brand partners access to Discord’s highly engaged, cross-platform mobile audience — and create new opportunities for businesses to connect with our community in meaningful, and performant, ways.”
Discord
Discord is a popular communications platform for gamers, with voice, video, and direct messaging features. The platform has over 200 million monthly active users.
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What are Quests?
Quests are Discord’s unique take on advertising
Discord / Pocket-lint
Usually, when you hear an app talk about “third-party ads,” it evokes a cause for concern. The last thing people want is for Discord’s mobile app to be overrun by ads, but it’s far from that, thanks to how Discord has implemented ads into its Quests system. The key difference with how Discord has introduced ads, compared to other big platforms like YouTube or Twitch, is that they aren’t in your face all the time, and are completely optional.
You can dismiss a Quest at any time, and you’re not forced to watch it.
Discord has two types of quests: Video Quests and Play Quests. Video Quests will pop up near the bottom of the screen on Discord mobile and will invite you to accept a quest and watch a video ad. You can dismiss a Quest anytime and not be forced to watch it. However, to encourage users to watch the ad, Discord offers users rewards such as in-game items and Discord Avatar decorations (for your profile icon). In the example Discord has shown off, users are prompted by a quest for the app Brawl Stars, and if they decide to watch the ad, they get a crown decoration they can put on their Discord avatar.
Play Quests are the second type of ad on Discord, and they’re more interactive. Rather than watching an ad, you’re encouraged to play a game to unlock rewards either in-game or on Discord. For example, Discord recently ran a Quest for the game Split Fiction, and if users played the game for 15 minutes, they got a Discord Avatar decoration they could use. In the past, Discord has run Play Quests for games like Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch 2, and more. It’s a way for a game developer to promote their new game or DLC to Discord users and reward the player if they partake in the Quest.
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How are Discord ads different from other companies?
Discord also offers a Nitro subscription plan
Discord
Discord’s take on ads is unique in the industry. Compared to other communication platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, X, or Facebook, they are much less in your face and reward you for participating. Discord allows users to hide a Quest once they pop up, and the user won’t receive a notification about that quest again if they do so. Users can also opt out of personalized promotions based on their activity for Quests. These options are available to all Discord users, regardless of platform.
Discord has a large user base, with over 200 million monthly active users, 90 percent of whom play games.
Discord has a large user base, with over 200 million monthly active users, 90 percent of whom play games. That’s a lot of users, and Discord surely doesn’t want to ruin what it’s built, so it implements third-party ads onto its platform intuitively and plays it safe. Discord says its Video Quests are “focused on driving awareness,” while its Play Quests are “designed to drive gameplay.”
The platform also offers a subscription service called Discord Nitro, which costs $10 per month or $100 a year. It lets users customize their profiles with animated avatars and banners, upload larger files to servers, screen share at a higher quality, and more. It also offers a Discord Nitro Basic subscription for $3 a month with a smaller file upload limit, alongside other features Nitro has, like custom stickers and emojis. Discord’s version of third-party ads, Quests, is available now on PC, and rolling out to mobile this June.
