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Microsoft May Buy Discord, Which Could Lead To The App On Consoles

Pictured: Justin Diaz
By Justin Diaz
March 23, 2021
Featured image for Microsoft May Buy Discord, Which Could Lead To The App On Consoles

Microsoft may end up buying Discord, according to a new report from Bloomberg who cites people familiar with the matter. This could lead to an official Discord app on consoles. In and of itself, the possibility of that happening is huge.

As of right now Discord is not officially available on Microsoft’s Xbox platform, though it can be installed unofficially and appears to work. Discord is not available on PlayStation in any capacity.

The report states that Microsoft aims to pay $10 Billion for Discord. Although Discord is also said to have been discussing a sale with other companies, with Microsoft being the frontrunner. Also a possibility, according to the same sources, is that Discord may simply decide to go public rather than sell.

Neither Discord nor Microsoft have yet confirmed any such plans for an acquisition. Discord, which was initially designed as a chat tool for people who play games on PC, has since transitioned to being about more than just video games.

In the middle of last year it made moves to rebrand itself as a place for everyone to communicate with like-minded individuals, as opposed to just a gaming chat tool. Discord has by no means moved away from gaming entirely though.

Console would be the final frontier for Discord, if Microsoft allows it

One thing to keep in mind is that Microsoft is not confirmed to be buying Discord. Even if the two companies are in talks for an acquisition, talks are very different from a mutual agreement and even more so from a finalized acquisition that’s been approved.

Still, if the report is accurate, this could spell big things for Discord and the gamers who use it. As of right now the only major gaming platform where Discord isn’t available is consoles. It started on PC, and has since made the jump to mobile on both Android and iOS.

While not integrated with cloud gaming, the app still exists on mobile and PC. Two places where you can use cloud services like Stadia, Game Pass, and GeForce NOW. So you could simply use the dedicated apps for those platforms.

With Discord on console, players would finally have what many consider to be the best chat app for gaming. That is, assuming Microsoft played nicely and kept things open for Sony to add it to PlayStation. Which it would probably be more pressured to do if Microsoft made it available for Xbox officially.

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