Latest Discord Update Rolls Out Paid Server Subscriptions To Everyone
Per a press release on December 1,Discordhas officially launched their Server Subscription service, a paid service through which server owners can offer paid premium subscriptions to members. The goal is a simple, clearly marked pipeline allowing creators to get paid for Discord-specific content and services.
The availability of paid services on social media has been a vital component of several platforms' business models. To date, Discord has been an exception. Small by social media standards, Discord as a business began as a solution to VoIP problems in online gaming. The service developed into a peer-to-peer communications platform allowing users to create and run servers for invited communities. Server members can exchange images and videos and run voice, video, and text chat. As of 2021, Discord is available in 30 languages and boasts 150 million active users monthly (viaStatista).
The missing piece of Discord’s jump into the big leagues of online communications platform has always been a system for paid subscriptions. Now that a payment system for creators is live, Discord will likely become more interesting to businesses and content creators.
Paid communities on Discord
Discord has long had its eye on growth,partnering with Playstationand briefly entertaining abuyout offer from Microsoft. The new Server Subscriptions certainly represent a way forward. Discord will be providing a creator portal with fresh content and tools for would-be premium server owners, as well as shareable Promo Pages to facilitate quick and easy linking to paid servers.
Data on buy-in for these innovations is sparse, but certainly none of them have as yet become a must-have for every Discord user. The popularity of services like this, above all the ones that require monetary investment from users, could push Discord forward into more wide-reaching applications — rather than just for gaming or creator communities.
