Discord announced on Wednesday it is trialing a new virtual reward system, called “Orbs,” aimed at boosting user engagement with its interactive ads. This initiative emerges as the company readies itself for a possible initial public offering.
Through Discord’s interactive ad format known as “Quests,” users can earn Orbs by completing advertiser-sponsored activities such as watching promotional videos or playing games. These newly introduced rewards can be exchanged in Discord’s Shop for exclusive digital items, including Nitro subscription credits, avatars, profile badges, special profile effects, and various themed decorations.
By integrating Orbs into Quests, Discord aims to demonstrate a robust, scalable advertising solution to potential investors and partners as it considers going public. Internal company data shared previously by Discord’s Senior Vice President of Product, Peter Sellis, underscored the Quests feature’s success. Sellis stated recently that, over the past year, more than seventy Quests campaigns achieved a ten-percent or higher engagement rate, resulting in millions of digital rewards delivered to users.
Currently, Quests are only available on the desktop app and gaming consoles, but Discord plans to expand the feature onto mobile platforms by June.
The introduction of Orbs also gives non-paying users a new method to experience the premium Nitro subscription service. For example, by acquiring approximately 1,400 Orbs, users can access three days of Nitro for free, a subscription typically priced at $10 per month.
Initially, the Orbs system will roll out to a limited set of users, with plans for a wider global release in the near future.
