Discord Launches Reward-Based Ads

Once considered a safe haven for gamers and niche communities, Discord is transforming into a powerful advertising platform with a deeply engaged audience and unique ad formats. In May 2025, the platform began testing a reward-based unskippable video ad campaign — a move that could become a turning point in Discord’s history.

What happened?

Discord announced the launch of In-Game Rewards — a video ad format tied to in-game perks. Users can watch a video to receive rewards such as exclusive content or in-game items.

These videos:

• Can’t be skipped
• Pause automatically when the user switches tabs
• Offer personalized experiences for those who opt in through privacy settings

Why should marketers care?

With over 200 million monthly active users, Discord has long outgrown its gamer-only image. Until now, monetization was limited to Nitro subscriptions, offering cosmetic upgrades and enhanced functionality. Now, Discord is taking a major step toward advertising — while still trying to balance user experience and brand interests.

Key advantages of this ad format:

• 100% viewer attention: Ads stop playing if the user isn’t actively watching.
• Interest-based targeting: Instead of collecting personal data, Discord targets users based on in-platform behavior and interests.
• Low privacy risks, which is especially relevant given increasing scrutiny over data usage.
• Minimal ad competition: Unlike Facebook or YouTube, Discord’s ad environment isn’t yet saturated.

What is the community saying?

The move has sparked mixed reactions. For long-time users, it came as a surprise — Discord had maintained a community-first, privacy-focused stance and avoided aggressive monetization for years. The rollout of unskippable ads seems like a sharp pivot toward commercialization, and not everyone is on board.

“It used to be a digital clubhouse. Now it’s just another ad surface,” said Navah Hopkins, Brand Evangelist at Optimize and active Discord user.

Users across Reddit, Twitter, and other platforms are voicing concerns that Discord could lose its identity — shifting from a “homey” communication space into just another platform where ads disrupt authentic interaction. This is especially worrying for users who rely on Discord for non-gaming purposes such as education, volunteer coordination, or mental health support.

Still, not everyone sees this as a negative change. Many users are staying calm, especially because:

• Ad personalization is optional, and users can opt out.
• Discord doesn’t require personal data or build invasive user profiles — targeting is based purely on platform activity.
• Ad rewards are completely optional and do not affect regular platform use.

Let’s not forget what still makes Discord great:

• Message history access, even on free accounts
• Highly customizable servers
• Powerful integrations with bots, APIs, and third-party tools
• High-quality voice and video chats

Compared to competitors like Slack, Discord still offers unmatched flexibility and community-first tools. Despite skepticism, the platform stands a good chance of maintaining core user loyalty — as long as it doesn’t cross the line between user support and intrusive monetization.

What’s next?

This step brings Discord closer to becoming a full-fledged social network. If users embrace this new ad format, marketers will gain access to a high-engagement, high-ROI channel.

The key question now is whether Discord can maintain community trust while pursuing advertising revenue.

For brands, Discord is opening a new chapter — one where you can engage a young, highly active audience in a way that not only avoids irritation but rewards interaction. The ad space on Discord, with its unique environment and low competition, is a rare opportunity to consider in your 2025–2026 marketing strategy.

This article available in Ukrainian.