Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy the instant messaging and social media platform Discord in a deal worth $10 billion. The rumors come just months after Microsoft’s SaaS competitor Salesforce announced it would acquire Slack for $27.7 billion.
While Slack and Discord have relatively similar appearances, the former is far more integrated with work related applications and services. Slack, on the other hand, is more closely integrated with social networks. The two have also attracted different audiences, with gamers being the primary users of Discord.
The gaming audience should mesh well with Microsoft’s increasingly aggressive gaming strategy. While the company has long been at the forefront of hardware development as the maker of Xbox consoles, it recently made a major push into game development with the $7.7 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media.
However, Discord is making attempts to move towards a more mainstream audience, a transition which a tech giant like Microsoft could aid in and accelerate.