Discord has officially launched Orbs, its new virtual rewards system, after completing a seven-week beta test.
Highlights
- Orbs Now Live: Discord officially launches “Orbs,” a virtual currency earned through brand-sponsored Quests and redeemable for in-platform rewards like Nitro trials, cosmetics, and profile effects.
- Strong Beta Results: Millions of Orbs were earned during the seven-week beta, with 79% of users being first-time spenders and a 16x rise in initial purchases—indicating success in engaging previously non-paying users.
- Dual Role: User Engagement & Advertising: The Quests not only boost user interaction but serve as plug-and-play marketing tools for brands, allowing campaign tracking via analytics partner Kantar.
- User-Requested Monetization: Orbs were shaped by direct user feedback—82% of users wanted virtual currency options, and nearly half believed it would improve their Discord experience.
- Targeting Non-Nitro Users: 70% of beta participants were not Nitro subscribers, showing that Orbs are successfully attracting the freemium audience. The three-day Nitro trials act as a non-intrusive upsell strategy.
- Global Rollout Underway: Orbs is now launching globally, cementing it as a core feature of Discord’s monetization roadmap and signaling a shift toward scalable, community-friendly revenue generation.
- IPO Timing and Strategy: With growing speculation about a potential IPO, this gives Discord a fresh monetization narrative—an advertiser-safe, gamified engagement engine backed by real user interest.
Designed to encourage user interaction with brand-sponsored content, Orbs are earned by completing Quests—engagement tasks that involve interacting with games, products, or services.
Users can then redeem Orbs for items in the Discord Shop, including three-day Nitro trials, profile decorations, limited-time cosmetics, and avatar effects.
Strong Early Adoption
The beta phase provided promising indicators of user interest. Discord reports that millions of Orbs were earned and redeemed during the test period.
Notably, 79% of participants had never made a purchase on the platform before, and the company saw a 16x increase in first-time purchases.
These metrics suggest Orbs could play a significant role in converting non-paying users into microtransaction participants—an area Discord has historically struggled to scale.
Dual Purpose
Beyond enhancing user experience, Orbs also serve a strategic function for advertisers. Quests act as a ready-to-use campaign engine, enabling brands to launch gamified experiences without having to develop custom reward systems.
For Discord, this presents an opportunity to monetize through opt-in advertising without compromising the user experience.
The company is also leveraging analytics firm Kantar to offer built-in marketing measurement for advertisers, including metrics such as brand awareness and recall.
This makes Orbs-powered Quests a more attractive and accountable channel for marketers, transforming in-app engagement into data-driven, measurable campaigns.
Community-Driven Monetization Strategy
Discord says the idea was directly shaped by user feedback. According to a Q3 2024 user survey, 82% of respondents expressed interest in earning a virtual currency, and 46% believed it would improve their platform experience.
Peter Sellis, Discord’s Senior VP of Product, described the feature as “player-centric monetization,” emphasizing that Orbs were not introduced as a top-down initiative but rather as a response to user demand.
Targeting Non-Subscribers and Enhancing Nitro Trials
Interestingly, the vast majority of beta users—70%—were not Nitro subscribers, indicating that the system is reaching the intended audience: users who are active on the platform but hesitant to pay for premium features.
Although Discord hasn’t shared whether the Quests led to increased Nitro subscriptions, the integration of three-day Nitro credits into the rewards system functions as a soft trial mechanism—offering users a taste of premium access.
Global Rollout
Following the beta, Orbs is now being rolled out globally, positioning it as a long-term addition to Discord’s monetization strategy rather than a limited experiment.
The timing also aligns with growing speculation about a potential Discord IPO, offering a new narrative for investors: a scalable, user-friendly, and brand-safe method of revenue generation.
