Microsoft reportedly in talks to acquire Discord for over $10 billion

Humza

Posts: 1,026   +171
Staff member
Bottom line: Discord, a staple app on most gaming PCs that also happens to be a robust chat client for productivity, is reportedly being considered for acquisition by Microsoft in a deal worth over $10 billion. The platform was recently valued at $7 billion, but considering that Slack, a rival of sorts, and with overall fewer monthly users, went to Salesforce for nearly four times that figure ($27.7 billion), Microsoft could end up with a killer deal as long as it's able to sustain the 100 million+ monthly userbase and manage its relationship with the company's own Teams and Xbox platforms.

Microsoft and Discord are said to be discussing an acquisition deal worth over $10 billion, according to Bloomberg, which notes that the video-chat platform has been recently reaching out to potential buyers and software giants, with Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer now engaged in talks for a potential buyout.

Another source talking to Bloomberg claims that Discord might go public, considering that IPOs of gaming properties have been going higher than ever with Roblox's recent $38 billion valuation. While Discord continues to serve the gaming community, often putting players directly in touch with game developers through official channels, the platform beefed up its infrastructure last year amidst the increasing work from home culture induced by the pandemic and rebranded itself as a place for everyone to talk, not just gamers.

If Microsoft's deal goes through, it'll be interesting to see how it would leverage Discord's massive userbase that had an impressive 300 million registered users as of last year and is said to be well in control of its fate at the moment.

Moreover, Microsoft could bundle Discord's Nitro subscription with Xbox Game Pass as yet another feather in its cap following its recent ZeniMax acquisition, and/or boost its workplace offerings by merging Discord's useful/relevant features with Microsoft Teams. It might also do well by just leaving Discord as is.

Permalink to story.

 
Microsoft is really splashing the cash. It will be interesting to see if all the investment pays off or flops like many Microsoft dreams and ambitions in the past.
 
Given how discord has become really popular with people that integrate it into Patreon, twitter, youtube and basically anyone that wants community chat but wants to stay away from Facebook this is not going to go over well for many people.

In my opinion, people should know by now that unless they're self hosting open source stuff there's just no free rides on the internet and any popular chat app will eventually be gobbled down by a mega corporation.
 
Maybe MS will then push it so Discord is even more convenient for gamers. Get something cross-platform going.

If there's one thing that's lacking (and best suited for Discord), it's that. Tried finding something this past week, and pretty annoyed that there isn't a native solution to voice chat across platforms yet (and no hint of one being in the works).
 
And an update, though I'm not sure this is for better or worse either...

https://wccftech.com/microsoft-and-...-discord-likely-to-go-public-believe-sources/

I think of rather have MS at the wheel than a bunch of shareholders determining how the platform evolves/is used.

Either way, it looks like this is going to be a lose/lose situation for end users. After all, going public went great for users of LastPass.
 
Last edited:
Because obviously Microsoft has no shareholders that determine it's future right?

Had the LastPass debacle in mind when posting that and added it to sort of clear that up.
But yes, nothing stopping MS from doing the same due to shareholders either, though seems less likely they'd do so.
 
Because obviously Microsoft has no shareholders that determine it's future right?
Microsoft's shareholders don't really give a toss about Discord. The users do care about how Discord is NOW. Not some MSFT envisioned future for it whatever that may be. It's not the same thing.
 
Microsoft's shareholders don't really give a toss about Discord. The users do care about how Discord is NOW. Not some MSFT envisioned future for it whatever that may be. It's not the same thing.

All the more reason they wouldn't care if they did this:

There goes discord's solid platform.

I can't wait for Microsoft to bundle this in with 50 other services and bog it down to the point of resurrecting Skype again.
 
Maybe MS will then push it so Discord is even more convenient for gamers. Get something cross-platform going.

If there's one thing that's lacking (and best suited for Discord), it's that. Tried finding something this past week, and pretty annoyed that there isn't a native solution to voice chat across platforms yet (and no hint of one being in the works).

This is the only silverlining. Having Discord integrated with XBOX would be super good. Shame the division between XBOX and Playstation is going to be a thing.
 
This is the only silverlining. Having Discord integrated with XBOX would be super good.
The thing is, Xbox already has XBL chat (and it's decent between PC and Xbox). The problem is when friends have a Playstation. An Xbox branded chat won't get on, but Discord? Maybe...

Shame the division between XBOX and Playstation is going to be a thing.
Or maybe a 3rd party will strike a deal with the platforms. There's definitely money to be made with such a move... provided the console makers play along...
 
Given how discord has become really popular with people that integrate it into Patreon, twitter, youtube and basically anyone that wants community chat but wants to stay away from Facebook this is not going to go over well for many people.

In my opinion, people should know by now that unless they're self hosting open source stuff there's just no free rides on the internet and any popular chat app will eventually be gobbled down by a mega corporation.
I think ur tin foil hat is on too tight. If there is one company thats not out to get you, it's microsoft.
 
Maybe MS will then push it so Discord is even more convenient for gamers. Get something cross-platform going.

If there's one thing that's lacking (and best suited for Discord), it's that. Tried finding something this past week, and pretty annoyed that there isn't a native solution to voice chat across platforms yet (and no hint of one being in the works).

Skype works for Xbox and PC
 
Yeah....they bought Skype.....and in a world where everyone is currently working from home, almost no one uses it now. Perhaps they'll rule the market with their changes to discord, just like they rule the streaming market with Mixer.....oh....wait.......
 
Back