Bloomberg recently reported that Microsoft may acquire the gaming-focused chat service Discord for $10 billion. However, Microsoft is not the only company interested; Amazon and Epic Games have reportedly been discussing a Discord acquisition for some time. However, there is no guarantee that Discord will be sold to Microsoft, and the popular chat service could launch as a public company on the stock market.

In many ways, it makes sense for Microsoft to acquire Discord. Since many people play games on both Windows PCs and Xbox consoles, it makes sense to add Discord to the Microsoft family. The two companies have worked together before, offering Nitro subscribers three months free access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as an incentive.

Microsoft could also enable gamers to communicate with each other using Discord on Xbox consoles. At this time, linking your console to Discord allows you to see what you are playing, but does not allow you to participate in chats or voice channels.

Discord boasts about 100 million monthly active users. The app is immensely popular thanks to its simple integration with games and its powerful chat feature. There are also a myriad of plug-ins that add to the platform's usefulness, such as podcast recording services and bots that manage communities. [However, this is not the first time that Microsoft has embarked on an acquisition of a chat app. The company acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, but it would be hard to pretend that this was a success. At the time, Skype was huge and had few rivals. But Skype's popularity has not kept pace with Zoom or even Microsoft's own Teams program when it comes to video/voice calls.

Still, a hybrid service between Discord and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate could make a lot of sense for gamers. Such a subscription could save money while providing users with a large game library. Also, by offering Discord functionality, Microsoft may be able to increase Game Pass subscriptions.

Investors value Discord at $7 billion at the end of 2020; Discord may choose to go public on the stock market in an initial public offering, which could jump the value of the company. If Discord were to sell itself to Microsoft, that would certainly be the easier option. It is the easier option. But Microsoft's track record with chat apps may worry gamers who love Discord now.