Some online messaging platforms
manage to make themselves the definitive message service for particular communities
of the internet. Discord, a voice-over-IP platform launched in 2015, gradually
became the go-to chat app for gamers, thanks to its versatility in offering
voice calls, video calls, private chatting and even digital distribution of
media files, thanks to its community structure of “servers.” The fact that it
is available on all major desktop and portable operating systems and browsers
is another plus for its wide adoption. With more than 250 million users
worldwide as of 2019, Discord is a hot enough platform that Microsoft has its
eyes on it.
Bloomberg tells us that Microsoft is apparently engaged in talks
with Discord Inc. with the prospect of the former acquiring the latter. Inside
sources have information that the tech company developing the gamer-favored
Discord chat-messaging platform is offering itself up for grabs by any other
tech giant with money to spend. The value is also nothing to sneeze at, since
it was reported to be at a cool $10 billion. The Microsoft side of the discussion
is said to be led by Phil Spencer, executive VP for Gaming and head executive
of the Xbox arm.
Interestingly, Microsoft is not
the only company that Discord has had talks with for possible acquisition.
Before, they have also met with online marketplace juggernaut Amazon, as well
as Epic Games of “Fortnite” fame. Microsoft however is of special note, given
that last year they made inroads but failed to acquire the American portion of
Chinese video-sharing social network TikTok. Discord Inc. had expressed
interest in re-expanding their platform from a gaming-focused chat hub to a
general social network, a “place to talk to.” Being bought up by Microsoft
might help it in that regard.
And acquisition is only one
possibility that Discord is exploring for its future. The inside sources add
that in case no good deal to sell is forthcoming, the company is in a position
to go public instead. Only last year the Discord platform cleaned house with
$130 million in revenue from the portion of its user base that pay “Nitro,” a
$9.99 monthly subscription for additional features like higher screen-sharing
resolution and increased upload limits. The increase of users during the
pandemic that began in 2020 may have inspired Discord Inc. to start thinking
big.
Image courtesy of Android Police
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