Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
UPDATE March 22, 2021 at 10:28 p.m. PT: Bloomberg is now reporting that Microsoft is in talks to purchase Discord.
Discord, the major communication platform, is currently in sales discussions that would see a price tag of $10 billion, according to reports.
Reported on by Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat, Discord has signed an exclusive acquisition discussion with one party. This comes from a source close to the matter. One source also states, “I know they are in active discussions with a select few parties” and goes on to suggest the current market could have Discord demand “double-digit billions”.
These reports are surfacing only a few months after Discord managed to raise $100 million in funding, bringing the total it has raised to just shy of half a billion dollars.
Takahashi points out that any company that has $10 billion to spend on a platform is likely going to be a major player in the technology sphere. Recently, Microsoft has been in the company acquisition game, having acquired Bethesda along with a slew of other developers. Integration with the Xbox platform could be a massive boon for Microsoft, considering the cross-platform play between Xbox and PC.
Outside of funding and potential acquisitions, Discord has been in the news due to the recent surge in GameStop (GME) stock purchases. The platform had banned the r/WallStreetBets group (one of the main drivers in the surging stock price) for hate speech.
One thing that Discord has always hammered home to its users was that it was focused entirely on the user experience. This is possible thanks to the platform’s independence and Discord will likely be taking this into consideration as it approaches discussions about any potential sale. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Discord page as we continue to follow this story.