Discord on Monday unveiled Nitro Rewards, which gives Nitro subscribers access to offers from other gaming and lifestyle brands at no additional cost.
Currently, Nitro offers upgrades to Discord itself, such as more profile customization options, HD streaming, and the ability to upload files up to 500MB. The subscription is optional as you can easily use the platform without paying, which is a conscious design choice on Discord’s part. But it also means that user acquisition can be difficult.
“Nitro has always been about how we can meaningfully upgrade the Discord experience, but not limit it [for free users] in any way,” Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Discord’s co-founder and CTO, told TechCrunch.
Nitro Rewards, available to both Nitro Basic ($2.99 per month) and Nitro ($9.99 per month) subscribers, is intended to improve subscriber value and therefore retain them.
At launch, Nitro Rewards will provide access to the base tier of Xbox Game Pass, which lets you play more than 50 PC and Xbox games, including Fallout 4, Stardew Valley and Day Z. The tier also includes 10 hours of cloud gaming, which lets you stream games from a PC or Xbox to other devices.
Nitro Rewards also offers discounts between 15% and 30% on a rotating selection of gaming hardware from Logitech G, SteelSeries and KontrolFreak. Over time, Discord plans to partner with more companies on similar offerings.
“Nitro is the largest contributor to Discord revenue and has been growing healthy year over year,” said Vishnevskiy. “This is about doubling that and giving you more value again […] It’s honestly a big thank you [subscribers] to support us. But also from a business perspective, it’s also better subscription retention because people have more value for it.”
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Originally conceived as a chat platform for gamers, today Discord plays a much larger role in online culture, serving as a community hub for all kinds of users – from crypto users building decentralized community projects and pub-goers organizing local craft nights to activists coordinating political protests. Discord also has an overarching role in the tech community, and founders have used the platform to convene beta testers or power users of their products and communicate more directly with them. The platform has grown to over 90 million daily active users.
But this increased exposure means that Discord has to confront the same complex online security issues as larger platforms. The company is currently preparing to introduce age verification measures as it faces several lawsuits over children’s online safety.
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