03/23/2021 9:47 AM
Clarín.com
Technology
Updated 03/23/2021 9:47 AM
After buying Bethesda, an iconic video game developer, Microsoft wants more users from the gamer community: as it turned out, now the company founded by Bill Gates is going for Discord, the text and voice chat used by more than 100 million people.
And they would be willing to pay
10 billion dollars.
According to Bloomberg, Discord has been having conversations with potential buyers and the software giant Microsoft appears as one of the most important.
Although there is no imminent agreement, those involved told the specialized media in the corporate world, the discussion would have a concrete figure and
the negotiations are open.
The San Francisco-based app is known for its free service that allows gamers to communicate by video, voice, and text, and people who were locked at home during the pandemic have increasingly used its technology for study groups. ,
dance classes, book clubs and other virtual gatherings.
It has more than 100 million monthly active users and over time it has been transformed: it has developed its communication tools to make it a
"place to talk"
rather than simply a chat platform focused on the player.
The pandemic, of course, upset everything.
Looking for new audiences
This picture taken on Januray 22, 2021 in Rennes, western France, shows a smartphone screen featuring messaging service applications WhatsApp, Signal, telegram, Viber, Discord and Olvid.
(Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)
Microsoft, which last year sought to buy the social
media
app
TikTok
and was in talks to acquire Pinterest Inc., is still looking for assets that provide access to communities that can bring it new users.
Microsoft's Xbox business also expanded the set of subscription benefits it offers
as part of its Game Pass offering.
"The prospect of Microsoft acquiring Discord makes perfect sense as it continues to reshape its gaming business more toward software and services," said Bloomberg intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman.
"There is a great opportunity to bundle Discord's premium offering, Nitro, into the Game Pass service to generate more subscriptions from the last 18 million reported."
After
Microsoft's recent purchase of ZeniMax Media Inc./strong>., Owner of The Elder Scrolls and Doom publisher Bethesda Softworks, for $ 7.5 billion, the acquisition of Discord would signal the willingness of the based software giant. in Redmond, Washington, to continue investing in its video game unit.
"We expect Xbox to remain acquisitive to further strengthen the Game Pass value proposition and
increase subscriptions," said Kanterman.
Discord reached out to Microsoft to gauge interest, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has been speaking with the company, according to one person.
The company raised $ 100 million at a valuation of 7 billion last year, according to Pitchbook.
Discord was also tested by
Epic Games Inc. and Amazon.com Inc./strong>.
in the past, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
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