Discord shoots for $15bn value as social media exodus continues

(Image credit: Discord & QuinceCreative - Pixabay)

Discord is so hot right now. With a growing list of interest from potential business partners—Twitter, Amazon and Epic Games included—its CEO and founder Jason Citron even had the balls to reject a $12 billion Microsoft takeover. Now, in wake of an apparent exodus from social media to private chat services, Citron is vying to capture the hearts of non-gamers and big investors alike, with plans to up the company's worth to around $15 billion taking shape.

We’ve been talking to all the console manufacturers.
Jason Citron, Discord CEO & founder

In an interview with the Financial Times, Citron says "there’s this big trend [of people shifting away from] broadcast wide-open social media communication services to more small, intimate places." That's great news for private chat services like Discord. "We’re a meaningful part of how that’s evolving on the internet," adds Citron.

Since the pandemic hit, more and more gamers had begun luring their friends onto the platform in lieu of meeting face-to-face. And the company's new 'Imagine a place' campaign movie, starring Danny DeVito, is helping to fuel the dream of harvesting non-gaming users.

Currently the company has a worth of around $7 billion but, as the apparent social media exodus continues, Discord is looking to branch out in an effort to more than double that figure. The article reveals, according to a Newcomers newsletter, Discord is looking to roughly double the company's value to around $15 billion in an upcoming 'funding round,' and is aiming for a public listing. That means more potential for shareholders to jump in.

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Earlier this year, Sony struck a minority share deal with Discord. So by this time next year, we can expect to see the chat service prevalent across PlayStation platforms, and as Citron admits, "We’ve been talking to all the console manufacturers.” Meaning that stance could grow to encompass other big names like Xbox and Nintendo, too.

We're seeing some immense momentum from Discord, then, and that's not expected to slow down anytime soon. With 150 million active monthly users, and growing, there's little doubt that Discord is taking over the private chat landscape. First on PC, and soon enough on console.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.