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Discord reportedly rejects Microsoft's takeover offer

The chat app is looking to go it alone with plans for a public offering, according to reports

21 Apr 2021

The mobile app for communication platform Discord

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Microsoft's interest in Discord looks to have been rebuffed as the communication platform is no longer up for sale, according to reports.

The popular chat app was thought to be mulling an acquisition valued at around $10 billion, but a Wall Street Journal report suggests the firm has cancelled talks with four interested parties - a list that includes Microsoft.

The other potential suitors were thought to be Twitter, Amazon and Epic Games, but all acquisition plans are reportedly being dropped in favour of a public offering.

Discord has around 140 million monthly users and earned $130 million in revenue in 2020, but it still isn't a profitable business which is the main reason the company began exploring acquisition options. Microsoft was seen as a likely suitor, given Discord's popularity with gamers and Microsoft's strong portfolio within the industry.

The two companies may reignite talks in the future, according to the WSJ, but for now, Discord is keen to pave its own way forward. The San Francisco company is best known for its free service that lets gamers chat via video, voice and text. Naturally, its users have increased throughout the pandemic, and so has its potential use cases; the communications tool has helped people study, take dance classes, join book clubs and other types of virtual gathering.

The tech giant has been very active of late, acquiring game maker Zenimax in March for $7.5 billion and also speech recognition startup Nuance Communications for $19.7 billion. Microsoft was also reportedly in talks to by Chinese social media firm TikTok towards the end of 2020 but ultimately lost out to Oracle, which, in turn, has been put on hold by the US government.

Microsoft's interest in Discord was said to be based around the social element of the app and the personal data it holds. Outside of its Xbox and Surface devices, Microsoft doesn't have much in the way of consumer-facing services or any form of social media.