Discord In Talks For Upto $10Bn Deal

If you’ve been on the internet for more than five femtoseconds, you’ll have had someone or something say, “join our Discord chat!” It is the (mostly) gaming-centric version of what “check out my Soundcloud!” is to music people, or “I’m going to the coffee shop to write my screenplay”. It is an easy place for “communities” or small groups of friends to congregate and moan about not having a Snyder cut to ask for anymore. A bit like Reddit, but private and only slightly less homophobic or racist.

Well, according to Venturebeat and Bloomberg (via a paywall), Microsoft is the pimp in the club once again. Reportedly setting down a total of $10-Billion for the online communication application. Venturebeat reports that they have two sources close to the company, with multiple interested parties hovering and all waving money in a saucy fashion. With the company (as yet unnamed) seemingly signing a deal that is close to being finalized.

However, as Bloomberg notes, their sources claim two different stories. One talks of the many offers on the table, with Microsoft being one of those such companies in the running. The other states, as Dina Bass and Katie Roof of Bloomberg put it, “Discord is more likely to go public than sell itself.” With both publications reaching out to both Discord and Microsoft for comments, both declining to comment. Venturebeat noted it could be any tech giant with extra dosh to splash around, such as: Microsoft, Google, Twitter, or Amazon. Though both publications note Microsoft as likely to be the top dog in the fight, as it were.

It is hard to say what will happen. These discussions are being held behind closed doors, held with anonymity as a key point, and ultimately, several offers could just be testing waters. There is nothing concrete to say X has bought Y for Z, but we could in the coming months find out that Grindr has bought Discord, for all we rightly know. Though it would be more understandable to have a Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo (unlikely) trying to get the gaming comms giant that reported revenue of $130-million in revenue in December. There is a possibility that rivals will halt the program working for specific communities, thus big bids are thrown in.