Find out about Discord, the platform Microsoft wants to purchase to continue its gaming expansion

Microsoft She’ll have the intention to get it Disagreement. The information has been published by BloombergWhich indicated that it will offer $ 10 billion to be able to progress in purchasing the app, which went from 70 million monthly active users in 2019 to doubling this number after a year, according to data provided by the same company. It also registered 14 million active users on a daily basis.

The question is: What is Discord’s ability to decide Microsoft to offer a larger sum than, say, to purchase Zenimax Media / Bethesda Softworks? There are two factors that challenge: One of them is directly related to the development of the platform and the tools it provides. The second factor is overcome by the intent that Microsoft may have regarding the multiplicity of services it provides to its users.

Discord was created in 2015 and born in the community of gamers. The goal was to create a space where players could talk while playing their games. The platform allows its users to create servers, which is the way every space is called where you can chat through text or voice. Each of these spaces can contain different channels, and it is a way to organize conversations according to different topics. A function that can be seen, for example, in slack.

Discord brings together different aspects, which explain the growth it has achieved in its users, but also the possibilities it may offer in the future. Primarily, it contains different tools that are already on other platforms, but in this case they all coexist in one place. Additionally, it is designed to be able to run parallel to games. Third, it is available on various devices, so it is reaching communities.

They explain on the platform page that “the friends you have on your server will be able to see that you are online and instantly join in talking without needing to connect” so ease of use is a related value. And most importantly: The possibility of forming societies and moderation in them.

Discord works on the ground: Communities associated with games talk about other topics, too. The possibility of creating different channels requests these different conversations and allows for the creation of more specific and thus more diverse communities. Discord, with its dynamics, encourages the creation of infinite niches.

Although it was born within the gaming ecosystem, it has expanded the themes that coexist within its world. It’s a process similar to what happened with Twitch, in which the “Just Chatting” category never stopped growing. Games have become the spearhead of growth, within these spaces, for different societies It ends by repeating the forms of interactions that were born associated with video games.

The significant increase in the number of registered users on Discord between 2019 and 2020 is framed in the context that has defined the pandemic and confinement measures. Forced virtualization required new channels for people to stay in touch, and gaming was an area that provided tools for users with other interests.

According to the data released by the same company, During 2020, about 70% of Discord users used the platform to discuss topics that were not directly related to video games. Or users who already have channels about video games also joined new topics.

However, in addition to that, the supposed purchase talks do not arrive at any point. Microsoft clearly strives to expand the range of services and benefits it provides to its users. A few weeks ago, the tech giant formalized the merger of Zenimax Media / Bethesda Softworks The news was accompanied by an announcement: 20 of Bathesda’s most popular games have joined Game Pass, the Xbox subscription service.

Discord provides you with the ability to enhance players’ sense of community. Microsoft will position itself as a cross-platform experience that offers an increasingly wide range of functions but also expands its gaming offerings. All communities will coexist in one space, regardless of the devices they have access to games on.

According to the Bloomberg Bloomberg Discord, it can be integrated as one of the services that Game Pass provides to its subscribers, expanding the range of benefits they can access to make the proposal more attractive. Although none of the companies have commented, the chat app would have also had conversations with Epic Games and Amazon.