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Microsoft reportedly have Discord in their sights to acquire

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Do you use Discord? Well if these reports are to be trusted, it looks like they might get a new owner under Microsoft.

In an article on Bloomberg which cites anonymous sources "familiar with the matter", Microsoft are apparently in talks to buy Discord for more than $10 billion USD. This follows from another article from VentureBeat that claims Discord has been exploring options for a sale and has "signed an exclusive acquisition discussion with one party". Earlier this month the WSJ talked about how Discord revenue has increased quite a lot to $130 million in 2020 (up from $45 million in 2019) but it's not actually profitable yet.

For the Linux support of Discord, if Microsoft did acquire it we don't expect much to change. Discord's Linux client is full of issues that never get solved so Microsoft can't do much worse - we could even see an improvement perhaps. Nowadays Microsoft aren't exactly the same when it comes to Linux with the likes of Teams, Visual Studio Code and Edge all on Linux in some form. Microsoft are also the owners of GitHub which huge parts of the open source community entirely rely on.

Still, with all the acquisitions Microsoft has done, that's a lot to have under a single roof. This continued consolidation across the gaming industry is pretty concerning. Some companies really do end up with far too much influence and power.

How do you feel about this?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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53 comments
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Grim85 Mar 23, 2021
Microsoft Teams for Gamers
tomaszg Mar 23, 2021
Well, time to look for alternatives.

BTW. I'm surprised so few projects decided to move away from Github...
scaine Mar 23, 2021
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I closed my GitHub account the moment that deal went through and I'll do the same if this happens to Discord. It's a shame, as I like the Discord experience, even though I gave up on their client (I only run it in the web now), but as an old, jaded long time techie, I won't have anything to do with Microsoft. Nothing they do absolves them of the hurt they bring to this industry day in and day out with their legal strong-arming, proprietary lock in, aggressive acquisitions and baffling licensing. They can "love Linux" all they want, I'll have nothing to do with them.
Whitewolfe80 Mar 23, 2021
Ahh electron app incoming yay well going by what happened to skype they will do what they want guess Jitsee is going to be getting some new users
Pangaea Mar 23, 2021
Shit.

Am not using Discord much, but it would certainly be bad news to be wolfed down by Microsoft. They've been very 'hungry' lately. If you can't innovate yourself, just take over those who are (in general), and also remove competitors. It's Microsoft 101. (and many others in fairness, like Google and Facebook).
Whitewolfe80 Mar 23, 2021
Quoting: tomaszgWell, time to look for alternatives.

BTW. I'm surprised so few projects decided to move away from Github...

Why microsoft didnt change it they just pumped funding into the backend and increased bandwidth. So far they havent changed anything really its still github
Whitewolfe80 Mar 23, 2021
Quoting: PangaeaShit.

Am not using Discord much, but it would certainly be bad news to be wolfed down by Microsoft. They've been very 'hungry' lately. If you can't innovate yourself, just take over those who are (in general), and also remove competitors. It's Microsoft 101. (and many others in fairness, like Google and Facebook).

Well yeah its smart business, Google bought a whole office suite company to make google docs. Most companies dont want to take a risk if you buy something that is already sucessful you in theory maintain profit while giving oppotunities to add to it. Ie Zenamax being bought by Microsoft they instantly gain four mainstream hit ips without spending a penny (in r and d) and fart out remasters of Fallout 3/New Vegas/Skyrim/Obilivion until the end of time and still make money.


Last edited by Whitewolfe80 on 23 March 2021 at 10:28 am UTC
Philadelphus Mar 23, 2021
I'm no fan of Microsoft buying anything, but I'll grudgingly admit they've managed not to run GitHub into the ground yet, so…50-50 Discord will still be worth using in a few years?
MaCroX95 Mar 23, 2021
Certainly deleting my account on discord, which hasn't been in use very much recently anyways.
whizse Mar 23, 2021
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Nooo! Absolutely shocking!
...
(Actually, I have no idea what a Discord is.)
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