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Report: Microsoft among companies in running to buy Discord

Report: Microsoft among companies in running to buy Discord

Tech and software giant Microsoft is apparently one of many companies in discussions with chat platform Discord about an acquisition.

That's according to Bloomberg, which reports that the Big M is in the running to pay more than $10 billion for the games chat firm. One source told the outlet that Discord going public is more likely than it being bought.

This follows a VentureBeat report about Discord reportedly being up for sale with that kind of a valuation. Outside of Microsoft, we have no idea who is throwing their hat into the ring to buy Discord.

That $10 billion price tag is considerably more than the $7 billion valuation that Discord boasted in December 2020 when it closed its Series H funding round. In June of that year, the company raised $100 million with a $3.5 billion valuation, meaning that Discord's perceived value has almost tripled in just nine months.

The games industry as a whole saw a blockbuster 2020, with companies reporting huge increases in revenue due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Discord isn't the only firm whose valuation has skyrocketed as a result; Roblox went public in March with a valuation that was seven times higher than in February 2020.

Were Microsoft to splash out $10 billion for Discord, that would be more than the $7.5 billion that it recently spent on Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.