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New Delhi: Tech giant Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy gaming-focused chat platform Discord for over $10 billion. According to a Bloomberg report, the talks are in early stages right now and there’s a chance that Discord may decide to go public instead. The chat platform is also in talks with Epic Games and Amazon for a similar deal, the report said.
Discord’s sale plans were first reported by Venturebeat on March 22, which said “multiple parties” were interested in buying the company. Discord had reached a valuation of $7 billion in December after it raised $140 million in a funding round led by Greenoaks Capital. The company had also raised $100 million in June last year. Venturebeat’s source said the company could be looking at a double-digit acquisition soon.
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Buying Discord will likely be a strategic acquisition for Microsoft. The company is a Slack-like platform meant primarily for gamers and acts as a good way for companies to connect directly with gaming communities around the world. The platform hosts communities across gaming platforms, including consoles, PCs and mobile. Microsoft could look to enhance its Xbox community through the acquisition.
Discord allows gamers around the world to interact with each other through voice, text and even video. Gamers can already connect it to their Xbox account, but there’s no official way to do the same with Sony’s PlayStation. Microsoft could use the acquisition to make the platform exclusive to gamers using Xbox and Windows platforms.
The Xbox maker has been looking to augment its offerings on Xbox for a while now. It acquired gaming company Zenimax Media, which owns Bethesda Studios, the company behind big ticket games like The Elder Scrolls series, Doom and more. Microsoft has since made games from Bethesda available on its Gamepass subscription service.
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