Discord is a popular chat application in the gaming and streaming community, while also having a presence on social media. It’s like the Slack of gaming, with some amazing features even in its free version. After a recent failed attempt to buy TikTok’s US operations and a rumored interest in Pinterest, Microsoft clearly has cash to burn. Bloomberg reports any acquisition of Discord would cost the company a cool $10 billion. Hardly pocket change, but manageable for Microsoft, a company thriving and valued north of a trillion dollars. It seems Discord has spoken to several potential suitors although it does not seem a deal is close.
Gaming Push
Discord is relatively new having launched in 2015. It provides video, text, and audio communication across iPhone, Android, Windows, and macOS. Despite being focused on the gaming community, enterprise users are increasingly looking at Discord as a potential business tool. Certainly, it would be more straightforward to transition Discord to enterprise than it would Slack to gaming. Of course, Microsoft Teams already exists, so it seems Microsoft’s interest is purely about the gaming aspects of Discord. Microsoft has been making a push in gaming, using acquisitions to drive growth. Recently, the company bought eSports event service Smash.gg. The recent $4.5 billion deal to acquire ZeniMax Media, the company behind Bethesda has also made headlines. However, service purchases have been more mixed, such as Beam which eventually became Microsoft Mixer. Despite throwing money at Mixer, the game streaming service has since been folded. Unlike other chat-services, Discord is somehow more of a hybrid between chat-app and social networks where follower counts or subscribers are considered important parameters of authority. For Discord, you can even purchase DMs on EarthWeb or other sites to fake social proof and influence. Tip of the day: Worried about your privacy in Windows 10 or want to keep different PCs linked to your Microsoft account strictly separate? We show you how to adjust your Windows 10 sync settings , including the clipboard, activity history/timeline, and themes.
