Key Takeaways
- Launch Discord Early: Don't wait until your game releases. Use Discord to build anticipation, gather feedback during development, and create a foundation of engaged players ready for launch day.
- Build Feedback Infrastructure: Create organized systems for collecting, categorizing, and responding to community input. Discord's search functionality can become a powerful tool for sentiment analysis and trend identification.
- Understand Your Community Culture: Invest time into learning how your players actually communicate and engage. Memes might work better than art contests, depending on your audience. Authentic, regular interaction builds trust and creates passionate advocates for your game.
A Revival Driven by Community
Reviving a beloved franchise from the 90s is a high-stakes challenge. How do you honor a classic legacy while building a new, vibrant community for modern players? For Tencent Games, the answer lay in bringing these audiences together and leveraging Discord as a central hub for genuine developer-to-player communication - starting early in the development cycle. By creating a culture of authenticity, implementing a robust feedback loop, and strategically using Discord’s features, Delta Force successfully cultivated a loyal community that's integral to its long-term success.
The Challenge: Bridging a Legacy
The original Delta Force was a tactical first-person shooter released in 1998. It stood out from other shooters of the era, like Quake and Unreal, by focusing on large-scale, open-world combat rather than fast-paced, close-quarters action. When Tencent Games embarked on the revival of the iconic Delta Force IP, they faced the dual task of reconnecting with a legacy audience and attracting a new generation of players. This required a community strategy that was both nostalgic and forward-thinking, especially with a phased launch across PC, mobile, and console platforms. The goal was simple but profound: to "welcome players old and new to our community, where they'll be heard, supported and rewarded in as many ways as possible." — Kyle Zhou, Community Manager, Delta Force.
The Solution: A Player-First Philosophy on Discord
Building a Culture of Accessibility
The Delta Force team is committed to being accessible and integrated with the player community. Their philosophy is built on the simple yet powerful idea that they are players themselves. This genuine connection is the foundation of their community and their approach to communication.
"We want to be what the community is feeling. So we want to feel with the community. We want to be one of them," says Kyle Zhou.
This philosophy is put into practice daily on the official Delta Force server. To their Discord server community of ~800K members, developers aren't just names—they're accessible partners. The team keeps their DMs open, creating a direct line of communication that goes far beyond typical community management. This sincere, empathetic approach has built a level of trust and loyalty that's difficult to replicate, turning their server into a place for genuine connection.
A Dynamic and Intentional Feedback Loop
Delta Force has transformed Discord from a simple forum into a mission-critical tool for game development. The team implemented a robust feedback loop using dedicated channels for suggestions and bug reports. When a bug report comes in, they leverage Discord's search function as a powerful tool to instantly gauge player sentiment and measure the issue's impact. As Kyle described, Discord acts like a "library or a dictionary" that provides instant access to player feedback on any topic, saving valuable time.
The community's requests directly influence the game's direction. When players made memes about adding a "ninja" style to the game, the team leaned into this cultural element. They embraced players' humor with more memes and references, pointing to Nox, an Operator introduced in season "Eclipse Vigil. This models a responsive loop where developers not only listen but actively participate in player culture. The team operates with a clear decision framework, prioritizing immediate fixes for critical bugs and evaluating larger feature requests for long-term roadmaps.
Building a Community That Grows with You
The Delta Force community strategy was designed to be dynamic, evolving with the game's phased, multi-platform launch. The Discord server was launched well before the PC open beta to establish a core community and gather early feedback. This early start wasn't just about hype; it was about creating a space for meaningful feedback during testing. The team tailored their approach for each platform launch. PC players received a structured server for guides and finding squads, mobile players were engaged with Discord-exclusive giveaways, and console players received comprehensive FAQs to address their specific concerns. At its peak, the server saw between 8,000 and 10,000 new members joining each day, with retention rates of 30-50%.
The server’s moderation team started with zero members and grew organically by identifying "early contributors and active chatters" who were passionate about the game and empowering them as moderators. This created a self-sustaining and well-managed environment. For community events, the team found that the most successful initiatives aligned with the player culture. While traditional art contests had limited turnout, a meme event for April Fools' Day garnered over 100 submissions. The team embraced players' humor, even when it was self-deprecating, strengthening their bond with the community.
Beyond being a communication hub, the Delta Force team leveraged Discord as a high-impact billboard for their brand. They maintained a consistent visual presence by aligning Discord server banners with the thematic branding of new seasons and major announcements across all social channels. This ensured a cohesive message, preventing player confusion and reinforcing the game's identity, whether players were on Discord, X, or elsewhere. As Kyle noted, "We want to make sure we send a cohesive message—everything about a new season is the same.”
Integrating Discord's Features for Engagement
Delta Force has a history of early adoption when it comes to Discord features. For the mobile launch, the team utilized Discord Quests, an incredibly effective tool for attracting new players and previewing the game. The Quest’s custom profile frame reward was a huge success, with thousands of players proudly displaying it as a badge of honor, further solidifying community culture.
Looking ahead, the team is working on a full integration of the Discord Social SDK, which enables Discord features to be present in-game. They plan to use features like high-quality voice chat to boost in-game communication and create a seamless experience between the game and the Discord server, with the goal of increasing player retention and discovery.
Explore the Delta Force Game Discord server to catch all the best practices in action!
Ready to take your game to the next level with Discord? Learn best practices for building a thriving community with our new YouTube series, Discord Server 101 for Game Developers.
