Microsoft Microsoft in talks to buy video game chat community Discord: Report
San Francisco/IBNS: Microsoft Corp is in talks to acquire a video game chat community, Discord.Inc, in a deal that may cross $10 billion, said a Bloomberg report, citing people aware of the development.
The report said Discord has been looking for prospective buyers, including Microsoft, but no deal has been finalised so far.
However, one of the people having knowledge of the matter stated that Discord is more likely to go public than sell itself.
The Bloomberg report stated Venturebeat report that Discord was exploring a sale and it was in final talks with a party.
Discord is a San Francisco-based free service that allows gamers to communicate through video, text, and voice.
People stuck at home during the coronavirus-induced lockdown used the technology increasingly for study groups, dance classes, book clubs and other virtual gatherings, the Bloomberg report said.
The popularity of the platform can be fathomed by its monthly active users, whose number is over 100 million, and has been upgrading and expanding its communication tools to transform it into a “place to talk” rather than just a gamer-centric chat platform.
The report said Microsoft is keen on accumulating assets that would provide access to mass social media platforms, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking.
Microsoft also acquired ZeniMax Media last year for $7.5 billion, its biggest gaming acquisition.
It has been expanding its Xbox suite of subscription perks it offers as part of its Game Pass offering.
Microsoft had acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion, its last big social deal while it failed to seal the purchase of the US assets of short video messaging app TikTok, last September.
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