Discord expands Nitro Rewards with Xbox Game Pass and hardware discounts

Discord has officially launched the Nitro Rewards programme, extending benefits to both Nitro Basic and Nitro subscribers. The initiative grants access to the base tier of Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost, alongside discounts ranging from 15 per cent to 30 per cent on gaming hardware from Logitech G, SteelSeries, and KontrolFreak.

Co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy confirmed the programme is a strategic move designed to enhance the value provided to subscribers and improve retention rates. He noted that Nitro remains the primary revenue driver for the company, which has reported healthy year-on-year growth in this area.

At launch, the Xbox Game Pass tier included in the rewards allows users to play more than 50 PC and Xbox games, with specific titles such as Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, and Day Z available. The package also includes 10 hours of cloud gaming, enabling users to stream titles from a PC or Xbox to other devices without additional hardware requirements.

Discord's Nitro subscription has historically focused on enhancing the core platform experience, such as HD streaming, increased file upload limits of up to 500 MB, and profile customisation, without restricting free users. The platform has evolved from a gamer-centric chat tool into a major community hub for diverse groups, including crypto users, activists, and tech founders, boasting over 90 million daily active users.

While Discord plans to partner with more companies over time, the specific future partners and the scope of their offers remain undefined. Similarly, the specific duration of the partnership with Xbox and the duration of the hardware discounts are not explicitly defined beyond the current launch phase.

The company is currently preparing to roll out age-verification measures as it faces ongoing legal challenges regarding children's online safety, though a specific timeline for this rollout has not been specified.