Discord Reportedly Shuts Down Sale Talks With Microsoft

Discord has reportedly shut down any plans of a potential sale, with Microsoft's supposed $10 billion purchase option now no longer on the table. According to Bloomberg, that bid may have even been as high as $12 billion, and interest also came from Twitter.

A report by The Wall Street Journal states that Discord is instead looking to continue independently, after the company has had a strong couple of months in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Discord will continue to operate this way for the foreseeable future, as it also weighs up options to go public later down the line.

This was previously an option that Discord was considering during talks of a sale, but one that seemed premature given that the company wasn't yet profitable. Reports of a sale surfaced in March, with suggestions that three companies were looking to buy the widely-used chat application. Microsoft were apparently ready to offer between $10 billion and $12 billion for Discord--a sum the company has become accustomed to spending after the purchase of Bethesda for $7.5 billion and AI company Nuance for nearly $20 billion recently.

The report also cites sources that say the deal between Discord and Microsoft could be rekindled in the future, suggesting that both parties aren't finished discussing a partnership down the line.

Since moving away from strictly gaming uses, Discord has begun welcoming all communities and workplaces into its application for reliable chat and voice communication. The company was reportedly also looking to sell as early as 2018 but backed down when potential buyers wanted to inject advertising into the application. It's unclear yet if any other factors such as these played a role in the breakdown of talk.