Discord has officially rolled out its new virtual rewards program, Orbs, following a seven-week beta period that saw significant user engagement. The feature, initially announced in May, is designed to incentivize users to engage with interactive advertisements. After completing ad-based Quests, participants earn Orbs, which can be exchanged for various digital items in Discord’s Shop, including three-day Nitro credits, profile badges, visual effects, and avatar decorations.
Quests include things like watching promotional videos, installing and playing (mostly free) video games for a 15-minute period, or other smal tasks that give either Orbs rewards or time-limited decorations for the user’s avatar and profile.
During the beta phase, millions of Orbs were earned and spent, according to company data. The introduction of Orbs reportedly led to a 16-fold increase in first-time purchases in the Shop, with 79% of those participants being users who had never made a prior purchase. Discord has not disclosed whether this activity translated into a rise in Nitro subscriptions, but the company confirmed that 70% of Orbs participants were non-subscribers.
The rewards system appears to be part of Discord’s broader strategy to establish a scalable ad-based revenue stream, particularly as it reportedly eyes a potential IPO. Orbs are being positioned to advertisers as a straightforward method to deploy Quest campaigns without the burden of developing proprietary rewards systems. This approach could enhance ad campaign adoption on the platform while introducing non-paying users to premium features through earnable credits.
While Discord declined to comment on whether Orbs directly drove an uptick in Nitro memberships, the company has indicated that user interest in the system was strong throughout the beta. As the program moves out of testing, Discord will likely monitor whether the trend of increased Shop activity continues, particularly among its large base of non-subscribing users.
