Discord Launches SDK to Power Social Infrastructure and Communications for Games

Associated Press

17-03-2025

Developers can power friends lists, cross-platform messaging, voice and more for all players — with or without a Discord account
Helps developers increase engagement and retention through seamless in-game social features; Drives discovery by extending reach to Discord's ecosystem of 200+ million monthly active users
Early partners include Theorycraft Games, Facepunch Studios, Scopely; SDK now available for all developers
SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Discord announces the launch of Discord Social SDK, a toolkit that enables developers of all sizes to tap into Discord's social infrastructure to drive their game's social and multiplayer experiences for all their players — with or without a Discord account — at no cost. Developers can not only harness the SDK to power in-game communication and connectivity for all players, but they can also provide an even more integrated and engaging experience for their Discord-connected players while further benefiting from Discord's social features to drive discovery and growth for their games.
Already rolling out in games from early partners, Discord Social SDK streamlines player connections and increases engagement while also making it possible to extend reach beyond the game itself to Discord's highly engaged community of 200+ million monthly active users who spend a combined 1.5+ billion hours each month playing across thousands of titles on PC alone. Social integrations include a unified friends list that serves as the foundation for the in-game social experience, deep-linked game invites that enable players to invite their friends to directly join their party or lobby, and communications features such as cross-platform messaging and voice chat.
Early developers leveraging Discord Social SDK include Theorycraft Games, Facepunch Studios,1047 Games, Scopely, Mainframe Industries, Elodie Games, Tencent Games and more. Discord Social SDK is compatible with C++, both Unreal Engine and Unity, and supports Windows 11+ and macOS. Support for console and mobile is coming soon.
'For game creators from indie to AAA, Discord is where you can connect with the world's largest and most engaged community of players to fuel the growth of your game before, during, and after launch. Game discovery and retention have never been so critical, and we're excited to help developers grow their games by reaching gamers where they are.' – Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Co-Founder and CTO at Discord
'We've bet big on Discord – from organizing our fully-remote office to nurturing our playtesting community – because we believe it's such a unique platform. Discord Social SDK is a valuable tool to make our social features like direct messaging, lobbies, and session invites absolutely seamless for SUPERVIVE players. We're thrilled to be an early partner for Discord Social SDK and look forward to bolstering our in-game communication by tapping into Discord's massive social graph and innovative social tools.' – Joe Tung, CEO at Theorycraft Games
'At Scopely, strong player communities are the heart of our games and core to everything we do. Our MARVEL Strike Force players are already coming together on Discord to strategize, strengthen their Alliances and connect with one another. With the upcoming integration of Discord's social connectivity directly into MARVEL Strike Force, we're looking forward to creating a more engaging, immersive and seamless way for players to communicate, enhancing how they play together and deepening their collaboration.' – Ryan Jacobson, General Manager of MARVEL Strike Force at Scopely
Propelling Game Discovery and Fueling Ecosystem Growth
Game discovery faces intense competition today. Just five major franchises now account for over 30% of total playtime, while the top 15 dominate 60% of all gaming hours [source: Newzoo, 'The PC & Console Gaming Report 2024"]. With 20K new games launching annually, developers struggle for visibility in a crowded market. Yet, 50% of Discord's active player base discovers and plays a new game each month.
The social dimension of gaming has become crucial for discovery. As players gravitate toward Discord – today's digital living room designed for gaming – they seek active connections where real friendships thrive. Research shows 72% of Discord users play games with friends weekly, 50% stream their gameplay to friends, and 28% launch the same game within an hour of watching a friend stream [Source: Discord 2024 Internal Data]. When users play with at least one friend, gameplay sessions increase 7x, highlighting the power of friend-to-friend influence and Discord's unique ecosystem.
Bringing Players Together, In and Out of Game
Discord Social SDK provides a social infrastructure layer for developers, unlocking access to Discord's naturally social communities to enable highly engaged players to connect, play, and build relationships. With Discord-powered features available directly in games, players spend less time planning and more time playing – whether they're teaming up in the same game, coordinating across different games, or just keeping the conversation going after a match.
Discord Social SDK offers a suite of features that enhance connectivity and player engagement, including:
Unified Friends List:
Players can access their Discord friends list in-game and their in-game friends list in Discord, enabling players to stay connected in and out of game.
Deeplink Game Invites:
Players can send invites directly from their in-game unified friends list to their Discord friends that drop them into the exact party/lobby/session, increasing player retention and engagement.
Rich Presence:
Players spread the word about a game just by playing it. Now available for PC, console, and mobile, rich presence lets a player surface their gaming activity in Discord as they are playing and can be configured to enable one-click game joins from player profiles. This leads to more discovery and exposure for the game, as well as more multiplayer gaming sessions.
Flexible Account Requirements:
A Discord account is not required for players to enjoy a unified social experience within the game, but account linking is available for those who wish to connect their in-game experience to their Discord account for an even more engaging experience that keeps the conversation around the game going even when they are not actively playing.
Additionally, Discord is releasing features in a closed beta to support in-game communications:
Cross-Platform Messaging:
Players can keep the conversation around the game going across desktop, console, and mobile.
Linked Channels:
Players can link their in-game chat to specific Discord channels in their servers, providing a space for guilds, groups, and squads of all sizes to connect with persistent messaging across both the game and Discord.
Voice Chat:
Players can enjoy some of the highest quality audio chat available today, powered by the same technology behind Discord's voice tools that have made it the gold standard for video game communications.
Developers can request expanded access to these available features via the closed beta.
Getting Started with Discord Social SDK
The launch of Discord Social SDK builds on the company's broader developer support initiatives, including Quests that drive game discovery through rewards, and Activities that allow game developers to build, launch, distribute, get discovered, and monetize natively on Discord.
Learn more and get started with Discord Social SDK here. Images and press kit can be downloaded here.
Discord is the communications platform that enables you to build meaningful connections around the joy of playing games through voice, video and text features. As the only communications platform purposely built for people who play multiplayer games, Discord has a highly engaged community of 200+ million monthly active users who spend a combined 1.5+ billion hours playing games each month across thousands of game titles on PC alone. Headquartered in San Francisco, Discord is free to download at Discord.com with an optional subscription offering called Nitro that offers enhanced streaming and customization features.