Microsoft Reportedly In Talks To Acquire Discord For Over $10 Billion

I have a feeling Ubisoft is joining Microsoft in the future.. Ubisoft and Bethesda are having very similar problems. Strong IP’s.. but lack of innovation and maybe money to take big risks. Ubisoft games are perfect for Gamepass. AA games with AAA quality and full with microtransactions. Plus.. Sony rules the third person action adventure scene.. so Ubisoft wil make up for that at the Microsoft camp.

But i just want games...

I hope they make Discord subscription free with GP.

I suppose they want to make Discord part of the family of services they have on offer, or make it a part of something bigger we don't know about yet. Either way, it's good to see MS is still hungry and bloodthirsty. Bodes well for Xbox.

It makes me wonder why MS would want to spend $10bn on Discord when they already have Slack available. I can see having Discord would have brand name recognition, but let's face it, Beam>Mixer wasn't a raging success for MS.

@Ocat I'm thinking the same as you, although I do have to wonder what the rumour about Ubisoft+ joining Game Pass entails. Because right now, we have barely any Ubisoft games at all on GP. So it almost seems like Microsoft is preparing something behind the scenes with Ubisoft, either an acquisition or simply including Ubisoft+ with GP. And if it's only that Ubisoft+ is joining GP, then that might rule out a potential acquisition. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense, an acquisition should be announced first and then you'd add Ubisoft+ when the deal has been finalised. Sort of how Microsoft added 20 Bethesda games after the deal with ZeniMax was finalised.

@Senua Didn't they offer three months of free Discord Nitro as a perk for GPU a while ago? So it's certainly possible that they'll do it permanently if Discord does get acquired.

Discord is so much more than gaming. It's safe places for minorities, for a lot of us. I really wouldn't want anyone poking around with it. But I guess MS is less bad than some of the alternatives.

Rumoured ubisoft plus which is £15 a month on its own and now if they acquire discord aswell which they could include with gamepass subscriptions, there is absolutely no way of these are true that the price of gamepass won't be increasing. I recon £20 month atleast with all this.

@UltimateOtaku91 They probably wanted the Gold price hike to subsidize the extra Game Pass value without having to increase the price of Game Pass. With all these additions to Game Pass, I feel there's going to end up being another attempt by Microsoft to force everyone onto Game Pass which results in a massive backlash and Game Pass eventually collapses in on itself.

The last two comments are very funny. Realistically, if Ubisoft join Game Pass, it will be in a separated and more expensive tier unless Microsoft buy Ubisoft. Pricing is very important and Microsoft are not silly in spite of what some people might think. Remember that EA Play joined Game Pass and the price increase for that was zero. There will always be affordable Game Pass even if it's the basic tier.

@Grumblevolcano they should get rid of gold full stop then, tbh the games they have been offering haven't been the greatest

@Medic_Alert Totally agree with you there. Both Sony and MS seem to be buying up every aspect of the gaming world and I'm not sure how good of a thing that is either.

@BlueOcean completely agree with ya. With all the culture issues that Ubi have had seemingly (not that they are the only company with those issues), could see there being more plusses than minuses to being with MS.

@Medic_Alert That's not how businesses work. Microsoft has been increasing its cash flow a lot, which means increased liquidity and stockholders/investors never like it when there is too much money lying around and not being used. So Microsoft needs to be spending this money because that means it's expanding its operations, which means its stock value increases and that means more money for the stockholders and more promising outsets for potential investors. It's not like Microsoft is thinking "WE'RE GONNA RULE THE WORLD!!". This is just how things are and will continue as long as Microsoft has a high cash flow. They need to be spending their money in order to appease interested parties.

@antifyre Yep .

Microsoft don't force studios to make games that they don't want to make. Microsoft's games are available on consoles, PCs, phones, tablets and TVs (soon). Microsoft's goal is to make Game Pass affordable and attractive to users, profitable for them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Game Pass. Even the "subscription" model is optional and you can still buy games if you wish so on consoles and PCs.

@BlueOcean Microsoft's been very reluctant to increase the price of Game Pass as it would slow growth so I think it's more likely instead of a price increase or a more expensive tier addition they'll increase the price of something else to subsidize the cost like they tried with Gold back in January. $70 games would probably have the least backlash as Sony's made it normal but I think it'll be scrapping Gold and forcing Game Pass Ultimate for paid online.

Na I want Microsoft to buy more, Sega or Fromsoftware next

@UltimateOtaku91
GPU is currently £10.99. They won't almost double the price after the backlash they had when they tried to double Gold membership.
Any increases will probably be increased tiers, like how Netflix has different price tiers.

@Ocat As much as I would like to see it happen, Guillemot (Founder/CEO) has a sizable shareholder stake that would need to be purchased. So it would rest on if he was willing to sell his shares or not.

Ubisoft also has significantly more staff to take on than Zenimax.

@Medic_Alert Of course, but there's literally nothing we can do against something that is standard procedure in the business world. If a company has too much money, it needs to spend it. That's just the order of things. The only difference is what they want to spend it on and right now it seems that Microsoft has its sight on expanding the Xbox operations now that Game Pass is showing so much potential. Once we're past the growth phase, attention will most likely be directed elsewhere.

Mind you that if Microsoft does actually go overboard and buy up too many companies, then there will naturally be consequences and they know this. But we're nowhere near a situation like that right now and there's nothing that points towards that happening. The more companies you buy, the higher the costs will become in order to maintain all the companies. Not to mention keeping all the companies in check would be a nightmare the more you add to your portfolio. The only reason why Microsoft is expanding is once again because of Game Pass and once they've reached a point where they can release first-party titles on a yearly basis on the service then that's when they'll cease with the acquisitions. They won't be purchasing companies for all eternity, it will eventually stop but for Game Pass to be successful this is a necessary stepping stone for them.

I see some guys got upset about MS potentially making another big acquisition. Well, I'd rather Microsoft and Sony have the gaming cake to themselves than see Google, Amazon and Facebook start buying gaming related stuff. I do undestand your concern, though. However, to quote Ellie, you can't stop this. Might as well enjoy the ride.

@Medic_Alert so what @BlueOcean is trying explain but rather muddle is they have to make purchases with their capital right now. I think Jez was explain a few podcasts ago but you can’t just have all that liquid cash so they have to buy stuff. It’s way more complex but it has to do with have that much liquid cash and how it works. They lost money if they don’t spend it basically.

If they added Ubisoft it’s have to be tier setup. I, for one, barely play Ubi games and those are all Switch exclusives or exclusive content. Seeing a price bump for Ubi isn’t worth it. EA on the other hand has a lot of older more nostalgic IPs and much broader range of games.

Discord is another matter all together, and I don’t see it be complexly rolled into GP but just another company they own kind of like what they did with Minecraft.

@GateCrasherUK
I wish they'd buy Cold Symmetry, the Mortal Shell devs, haven't played it yet but I think it could grow to make games worthy of being fromsoft's competitors.
@Grumblevolcano looking at the gold price increase backtracking I reckon they won't try that again, and you say they probably won't increase the gamepass price, what else is there?

@KamSung Tbh I have no interest in the souls games but I want Fromsoftware to bring Armored Core Back from the dead and make sure they are on Xbox and better yet Gamepass

@Medic_Alert I get where you're coming from, but I think you're looking at this in a very simplistic way. Yes fewer companies in the market means less competition and that means companies won't strive to improve their products as much as before, in a general sense. However, looking at each company individually, were they even doing that well among consumers to begin with? If you go over to PushSquare, you will find tons of people who state that Bethesda hasn't produced anything good for a long time. Fallout 76 was a disaster at launch and Bethesda as a whole is known for releasing games riddled with bugs and glitches. Not to mention that franchises like Dishonoured, Wolfenstein and Evil Within don't really have as wide appeal as Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Now that Microsoft has acquired ZeniMax, perhaps all of this will improve due to a better top management and the fact that the games will be on Game Pass, which will reach a wider audience than before.

Now, let's look at "a couple more big acquisitions" as you mentioned. Take the two hottest rumoured candidates right now, SEGA and Ubisoft. How's it looking for SEGA? Pretty well with games like Persona and Yakuza. How about Sonic? Not that well. They are also lying on top of a treasure trove of IPs that are not being used at all. Their financial situation isn't good either due to the impact of COVID. Are they really gonna improve the way they are right now? Who knows. Ubisoft on the other hand is doing really well but then you have those people who say that their games never improve. They're the same copy and paste in every series, like Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry etc. And it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not as simple as saying "lowered competition is not good". You have to look at each company individually. If ZeniMax wasn't acquired, then would they truly have improved their games due to more competition? Doubt it. They know that people will buy their games regardless. However, under the umbrella of Microsoft, perhaps they are now required to reach a certain level of quality befitting of an Xbox Game Studios title and that might improve their games overall.

Maybe lowered competition isn't good, but maybe being acquired will bring with it many benefits that we frankly weren't expecting. We'll just have to wait and see.

@Medic_Alert To add to what @LtSarge said Discord isn’t about owning something in the gaming industry but a social media platform. Google has YouTube and Amazon has Twitch. It’s not about Xbox at all. They tried TikTok that didn’t go through Discord really the next one.

@mousieone The reason why I didn't mention anything about Discord in my posts is because @Medic_Alert wasn't specifically referring to the gaming industry. He just said "of any industry" and that's why I've been careful to only refer to the gaming industry in my posts. I'm fairly certain that he isn't trying to relate Discord to the gaming industry, but instead to its own industry. In the case of Discord, which is a messaging platform, other competitive services are Teams and Skype, which are also owned by Microsoft. That's what he's referring to I think, that Microsoft already owns several platforms in that industry.

Never been a fan of Discord to be honest, I find it too childish with its theme and “Lol xD” style of things. Give me Ventrilo or TS3 any day.

@mousieone @LtSarge @Medic_Alert I think we can all agree every big tech company wants a stranglehold on their markets these days and it is a general concern. MS is no exception to that. I do think the Bethesda purchase does some good though. They needed to increase their pool of first party studios and got it in one go. Sony do a similar thing but slowly acquiring smaller studios as its more financially viable to do that for them, but both working to the same ends.

My take with Discord specifically though. I dont think its a move to take over the messaging space. Rather, they are in need of a platform that suits the gaming space.

Skype and Teams although large brands are very business-centric and tailored towards the corporate office environment now.

Discord sits away from that and more in the gaming and general entertainment community space.

I think it would be a good and relevant acquisition. I just dont think Discord necessarily need it. I think going public on the stock exchange is better for them the interest from large investors would be immense.

@LtSarge Fair point, I just think for MS it’s less about the “messaging system” and more about the “community” and “social aspects”.

@mousieone Yeah I totally agree. I mean, like @Jaxx420 mentioned, Discord is more directed towards gaming and entertainment compared to platforms like Skype and Teams which are used in more formal situations. So while Microsoft already owns those two, I think Discord would be more fitting for Xbox in terms of creating a community around that platform.

@GateCrasherUK I keep on hearing about that game lol, I did once look at fromsoft's games and they've recently only re-released one non souls game so I figured all of their games were just bad.

@redd214 @Medic_Alert Agree with both of you there, although Sony hasn't been buying a whole lot, and what they do buy up they tend to turn into part of the assembly line the way MS used to a decade ago. MS has been mostly letting companies do their own thing, though I don't expect that lasts forever.

I hate either of them consuming everything, and certainly not when it gets to the big players like Ubisoft, but on the other hand, neither of them are as destructive as the likes of Amazon, Google, Tencent, and Apple. Once those guys start buying things they turn into cesspits forever. So it feels like having to cheer for a benevolent dictatorship to stave off a malevolent one.

If they acquire Discord pretty sure everyone working there right now might get fired.

People have to remember that discord is a mobile app so this acquisition would have no effect on playstation or Nintendo users what-so-ever they can carry on using it the way they have been.

People seem to turn to discord when they can’t have certain discussions on other platforms. I wonder if this purchase will effect that freedom.