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Discord seems to be toying with the idea of putting itself up for sale. Microsoft is one of the possible buyers, but an IPO is also being considered. The sale should generate over 10 billion dollars.

Bloomberg sources report this. Discord is said to be talking to several parties about an acquisition, of which Microsoft is one. It is not known which other parties have shown interest in Discord. According to one of the sources, an IPO is the most likely outcome.

Voice chat for gamers

Discord is a fast-growing platform that was set up primarily to allow gamers to communicate with each other during their games. The platform offers voice chat ‘channels’ that users can join and leave as they please. Instant messaging is of course also an option.

Recently, Discord seems to be growing into more than just a platform for gamers. More and more other groups are charmed by the features Discord offers and use the platform as a primary communication platform.

Large investments into Xbox

For Microsoft, the acquisition would be a logical step. The company has already shown interest in the acquisition of social media for some time. Last year, the company unsuccessfully targeted TikTok and Pinterest. In 2016, Microsoft acquired the business social medium LinkedIn and has owned the communication platform Skype since 2011. At the time, Skype was also widely used by gamers for voice communication.

Microsoft has been investing heavily in its Xbox gaming division lately. Last autumn, it released the latest generation of its Xbox consoles, and the company is placing increasing emphasis on its Xbox Game Pass subscription. Also, Microsoft acquired the major game developer Bethesda last year. If the company also gets its hands on Discord, Microsoft may regain its grip on the social media that young people use. After MSN Messenger and Skype fell out of fashion, Microsoft lost those people. Deeper integration of Discord with the Xbox network would be a logical next step.

Both Discord and Microsoft declined to comment on Bloomberg’s enquiries.