Discord is rolling out a new ad format and a slate of platform updates aimed at making it easier for players to discover, play, and connect around games, the company announced today, August 20.
The changes to Discord’s platform touch advertising, in-game commerce, community profiles, and mobile support, marking one of Discord’s broadest pushes yet into monetization tools for game publishers.
The focus of Discord’s update announcement today is Play Quest+, a new advertising format that rewards players for completing specific in-game actions rather than simply watching a promotional spot. Actions that qualify include finishing a tutorial, completing a match, or playing alongside a friend. The format runs on Discord’s Social SDK and Events API, allowing progress to sync automatically once a player links their Discord and game accounts.
Electronic Arts is the first publisher to launch a Play Quest+ campaign, tying the format to Battlefield 6 in early September. Players who opt into the Quest and connect their accounts will see their progress update inside Discord in real time as they play. EA’s early adoption was made possible by its integration of the Social SDK and Events API, according to a Discord representative, positioning the publisher as a test case for how the format performs before other studios follow.
Alongside Discord’s new Play Quest+ ad format, the company is expanding its Social Commerce program with two new partners. Ninja Kiwi has begun selling in-game items from Bloons Tower Defense 6 directly through Discord, adding the tower-defense franchise to the platform’s growing storefront lineup. Facepunch Studios’ Rust Game Shop has been live since May, and the Discord representative shared some of the shop’s early results.
The Rust Game Shop reached one in five active Rust players within its first week, according to the Discord representative, with nearly one in four of those buyers making a repeat purchase — early signs that in-app storefronts embedded in Discord can drive recurring transactions rather than one-off sales.
Discord’s announcement today also featured Game Stats Widgets, a tool available to official game communities that have claimed their game on the platform. The widget surfaces a developer’s game directly on a player’s Profile Board, giving friends a one-click way to see what someone is currently playing. The feature is designed to increase visibility for game communities and make it easier for players to find others active in the same title.
Rounding out the announcement, Discord is bringing its Social SDK to mobile for the first time, extending support to both iOS and Android. The company’s existing Social Layer tools have driven a 31% increase in retention, a 47% increase in session length, and a 57% increase in game launch days for PC titles that have adopted them, according to the Discord rep. Discord is positioning the mobile rollout as an extension of those same social mechanics, built specifically for a faster, lower-friction mobile experience.
Together, today’s updates to Discord’s platform reflect the company’s continued push to position itself as infrastructure for game publishers rather than just a chat platform — offering tools for advertising, commerce, community visibility, and cross-platform engagement in a single ecosystem. With EA, Ninja Kiwi, and Facepunch Studios already on board, the company appears to be betting that deeper account-linking and in-platform purchasing will give publishers reasons to build directly into Discord rather than treating it as a peripheral community hub.