How to build a community for your game, starting with a Discord server
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
A Discord server does not find players; it keeps the ones you found elsewhere and turns them into testers and advocates. Open it once people ask where to follow the game, start with a few channels, post updates there first, and invite members into playtests. Beside it, keep an email newsletter, which reaches people Discord's feed buries. Treat feedback as data: thank people, look for patterns, and say what you changed.
A community is the players who come back
An empty server with forty channels looks abandoned. A small one where the developer answers every message feels alive. Open it when you have people to put in it.
Setting it up
- Create the server and turn on Community in its settings for welcome screens and announcements.
- Start with a handful of channels; see which channels a game Discord needs.
- Set clear rules and a verification level.
- Add roles for playtesters and for people who want update pings.
- Link it from the Steam page, your website, the game's menu and every post.
A newsletter beside it
Discord messages scroll away; an email arrives. A short monthly newsletter of progress and dates reaches people who joined once and stopped checking.
Handling feedback
Thank people, ask follow-up questions, count how many raise the same thing, and post what you changed because of them. You do not owe anyone every feature, but you owe them an answer.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay's playtest links let your Discord play the latest build, and its game websites collect email signups with consent for you to export. Free in beta until 1 December 2026.