Soon, Discord will let app and game makers make new games and apps that can be used in the chat app itself. Discord users have had access to some minigames and apps for a while now.
But on March 18, all Discord developers will be able to use a new Embedded App SDK to make these unique embedded apps.
Discord’s Activities feature has been used to make apps like YouTube work, push minigames like poker, and even get people to play with a shared whiteboard. All of these apps show up in Discord as an attached iframe, but so far only a few developers have been able to use them.
“Plenty of Discord Developers out there have had their eyes on Activities, wondering when they could create their own,” says Discord in a blog post. “Starting March 18th, Discord Developers will be able to build new games and experiences that can be played directly on the platform with our new Embedded App SDK.”
The SDK will let a lot more developers work on the Activities area of Discord. This means that there will be a lot more minigames that can be played right in Discord chats.
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“We want Discord to become the best place for developers to build, share, distribute, get found, and make money from their work,” the company says. “We want Discord to be the place where your app starts, where it fits in with communities around the world, and where it’s easy for friends to share.”
Discord is also trying out a way for users to add apps to their accounts that let them move between sites. Developers will be able to add accounts to their apps, and the experiment will begin on March 18th, the same day as the app SDK.
Discord is also bringing back its app pitches, a way for developers to show off prototypes of apps they want to make and win up to $30,000 in funds. There were a few AI tools, an app for artists, a coral reef cam app, and a city-building minigame that won funds last year.
All of these changes that focus on developers come just a few weeks after Discord said it was letting go of 17% of its staff. To get more people to use Discord, the company is trying new developer experiences. For example, it is working with game developers to sell themed images and profile effects.
