According to TechCrunch, Discord announced new commerce features on Tuesday that let users buy in-game items directly on the platform, starting with a partnership with the popular game Marvel Rivals. Marvel Rivals is a huge get, having attracted 10 million players in just 72 hours after its release last year and generating over $100 million in revenue in its first month alone. The new shop, currently available on desktop in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Oceania, allows purchases of items like costumes, emotes, and bundles from within the game’s official Discord server. Users can also create wishlists and send items as gifts through direct messages, a feature timed for the upcoming holiday season. This move creates a new monetization channel for both Discord and game developers as the platform prepares for a potential IPO and the financial scrutiny that comes with it.
The IPO context
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a nice feature for gamers. It’s a strategic revenue play. Discord has been famously hesitant to monetize its core chat experience aggressively, but the clock is ticking if an IPO is really on the horizon. Public markets want to see diversified, growing revenue streams. So, taking a cut of in-game item sales is a logical next step. It’s a way to make money from the vibrant gaming communities on the platform without putting ads in DMs or charging users to chat. Basically, they’re monetizing the context, not the conversation. Smart.
Why Marvel Rivals first?
The choice of launch partner is brilliant. Marvel Rivals isn’t just any game; it’s a certified hit with a massive, built-in Discord community of over 4 million members. That’s a ready-made audience of super-engaged users who are already spending money on the game. By plugging the store directly into that server, Discord is guaranteeing initial traction. It’s a proof-of-concept with training wheels. If it works here—and with those numbers, it probably will—it becomes a much easier sell to other game developers. Look, it’s a classic platform move: attract a giant to validate the feature, then use that case study to onboard everyone else.
The gift that keeps on giving
The gifting and wishlist features are sneaky-good additions. Think about it. How many times have you wanted to get a gaming gift for a friend but had no idea what to buy or how to get it to them? This solves that. You can browse their wishlist right in Discord and send it in a DM. Even more cleverly, you can gift an item to someone who doesn’t even play that particular game yet. It’s basically a customer acquisition tool for the developer, wrapped in a nice social gesture. And launching this right before the holidays? That’s not an accident. It’s a perfect storm for driving impulse purchases and social spending.
What it means for everyone else
For developers, this is a new, low-friction storefront. They get access to Discord’s massive user base right where those users are already hanging out and talking about their game. It’s a direct marketing and sales channel rolled into one. For users, it’s pure convenience—fewer tabs, fewer logins, fewer steps between seeing a cool skin and owning it. But the big question is, what’s next? If this takes off, does Discord become a secondary marketplace for all sorts of digital goods? Could it expand beyond gaming? It certainly lays the groundwork. For now, though, it’s a focused, pragmatic step towards making the platform’s finances look as healthy as its communities. You can read the official announcement from Discord here.
