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Microsoft is reportedly 'in the running' to buy Discord for more than $10 billion

Discord might go public instead of selling.

This illustration picture taken on May 27, 2020 in Paris shows the logos of the social networks applications Zoom, Discord, Teams and WhatsApp on the screen of a phone. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP) (Photo by MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images) (MARTIN BUREAU via Getty Images)

Earlier today VentureBeat was first to report that Discord, the chat/communications platform that's popular with gamers and many other groups, is going through a sales process that could fetch more than $10 billion. The only question left was who might snap it up at that price, and now Bloomberg cites anonymous sources saying that Microsoft is in the running to acquire the company.

The report doesn't suggest that a deal is done, or even close to completion, and at least one source claimed Discord is more likely to go public than sell.

Still, Microsoft is an interesting prospect, as it not only has the service formerly known as Xbox Live, it also competes with Slack using its Office products and Microsoft Teams. It's been almost a decade since Microsoft bought Yammer to enhance its enterprise social networking efforts and five years or so since it bought LinkedIn. Adding Discord's services to the fold could provide a major weapon against Slack or other options from Google, Facebook and Amazon.