Selfless spending, linked accounts and how developers get the most out of Discord

• We talk with Discord's Anthony Tešija about the Social SDK, Social Commerce and how developers are leveraging Discord.
• Gifting now allows users to buy in-game items for other players.

Social platform Discord has long been popular with gamers as a place to message, call and communicate mid-gaming session.

The platform has leaned into this with updates like a cosmetics wishlist, Discord Activities and its Social SDK, the latter enabling integration of Discord’s voice and messaging features directly into games. As it’s evolved, the platform has claimed to have advanced beyond a community server into a useful tool for developers, including mobile devs.

We speak with Discord senior developer Anthony Tešija, who recently spoke at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco, about how game makers are reaching new players, retaining them and the role of Discord Social Commerce in monetising games. We also discuss selfless purchasing - as users begin buying in-game items for games they don’t even play.

"The developers who get the most out of Discord treat their server as an extension of the game experience," Tešija begins.

"That means the game team goes beyond announcements and patch notes by showing up consistently, engaging in direct conversations, running play sessions and offering special access. The communities that retain members on Discord are the ones where players have a reason to show up even when they’re not reading changelogs."

Getting players playing

Last month, a Discord update brought new features to the Social SDK like linking accounts between the social platform and games. It means users can now see prompts when their friends are playing a linked game - with a status reflecting their in-game activity. Categories include competing, listening and watching.

Across early integration partners, linked players were said to have 16% longer play sessions than their unlinked counterparts. Seeing what friends are playing is believed to encourage others to play - jumping in without needing to coordinate via messaging first.

Furthermore, as an incentive to link accounts, players who do so can be rewarded with in-game items for being active in the community - reporting bugs, for example. 

The tech also supports fully native mobile linking on iOS and Android.

"Most players discover new games from their friends, and Discord is where friends spend time together before, during and after they play. We're helping developers tap into that social energy to drive not just discovery, but also engagement and playtime," explains Tešija.

"People want to play games with friends, but that’s not always as easy as it should be. Developers can make it simpler by integrating the Social SDK, enabling account linking and bringing the social layer of Discord in-game.

"They can give players access to their Discord friends list and allow them to send deeplink invites that drop friends straight into a session together. Rich Presence lets players show their friends what they’re playing, so friends always know when someone’s around and ready to play."

Tešija reveals that linked players open a game on 25% more days than non-linked players and have a median 34% increase in D28 retention, at least across initial partners. He therefore argues that integrating a game and Discord community makes players more likely to keep playing.

"On top of that foundation, developers can reach new players through Discord’s rewarded ads, Quests, all by meeting players where they already spend time," he adds.

Purchasing power, for me and for thee

On the monetisation side, Discord is also expanding its Social Commerce as a native way for players to buy and gift each other in-game items. For the past few months, players have been able to do this through the platform with a limited number of games like Marvel Rivals, but now the list of compatible games is beginning to expand.

Tešija explains that developers can host items in a game shop within official Discord servers. This aims to make purchases more seamless.

At the same time, players can present a wishlist of desired items, and gift others items too. This is possible without leaving Discord. In fact, users don’t even need to have a game installed to buy its items for a friend.

"A player can gift a friend a skin mid-conversation without leaving the chat, and the next time the friend opens the game, the gift is there waiting for them," shares Tešija.

"Discord piloted Social Commerce with Marvel Rivals in December 2025 and the results showed just how powerful native social behaviours can be as a commerce driver. Based on an internal study, 41% of purchases were gifts and 25% of gift buyers were lapsed or non-players.

"They bought a gift because they knew a friend who would appreciate it. That's the kind of organic, relationship-driven purchase that doesn't happen on a traditional storefront."

He calls this pilot "a clear success". Based on its results, Discord Social Commerce is now open to additional partners by invitation.

Community connection

Tešija spoke at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco on March 9th, where he revealed best practices for devs looking to leverage the platform fully.

He suggested it’s key to take advantage of the right features for a particular genre. Discord-powered direct messages may be more beneficial in a casual multiplayer game, for example, while enabling voice chat may better suit a battle royale.

We ask why gamers would opt to use Discord over other social media platforms while playing.

"Discord stands out because it brings a player’s entire gaming life together in one place. It’s not just a communications platform: it’s the social layer of gaming, where players build meaningful connections, discover games and spend time together around gameplay," answers Tešija.

"On Discord, servers are a kind of co-invested space. Developers are incentivised to engage authentically with players because it makes the players feel more involved with the making of the game they love. In turn, this encourages players to be helpful and foster a positive environment."

He calls Discord "a natural and authentic environment" for developers to communicate with players and adds that they can gather feedback in context. The platform is indeed highlighted by many devs as a key place to connect with their communities, including Zynga, Rovio and Scopely.

Game of Thrones: Legends, for example, looks to Discord for player feedback. Rovio intentionally built a Discord channel for Sonic Rumble to help the community grow. And Monopoly Go operates multiple Discord channels, which played a crucial role in the recent Pets Season.

Tešija suggests: "On the discoverability side, helping players find that official community and having a verified identity is as critical as setting up your store page. Those with games on Steam can now claim their game on Discord and customise how they show up to over 90 million daily active users."

In the context of player feedback, a comparison is drawn to other social platforms where users discuss games. Many games have their own dedicated subreddits, for example, sometimes official or affiliated with the subject title.

Without naming other platforms, Tešija broadly calls them "asynchronous" while claiming that feedback on Discord is more immediate, so developers "don't have to go looking" for it.

"Players often share feedback on social channels - those are asynchronous channels. For example, a player posts, a developer then discovers it and maybe reads it hours later. On Discord, the developer team is in the room while the conversation is happening. Players are reacting in real time, in voice and text, alongside the people they play with," he argues.

"Developers can also connect feedback channels to bug trackers and project management tools and companion bots in their communities, so player reports flow directly into the team's workflow. That closes the gap between what players experience and what the team acts on."

Between the Social SDK, Quests and Social Commerce, today Discord has many functions working in tandem to connect games, gamers and game makers. Tešija promises this programme will continue to evolve, with ambitions to make these tools more accessible to all studios in future, regardless of size.