The prospect of a Microsoft/Discord merger escalates with serious speed

Discord has become a go-to chat, team-building or collaboration portal for groups ranging from gamers to YouTuber squads. This, then, may be why rumblings of the app's absorption by Microsoft have arisen. Then again, they have also been dismissed as a kind of online joke to date (like, for example (and also, spoiler alert) the one the attention-grabbing Raleigh Register link name on the subject leads to). 

However, the Wall Street Journal has just lent more credence to these rumors, with a new article asserting that Discord's owners have indeed entered "advanced" negotiations with Microsoft. Apparently, they may lead to its purchase for a sum of at least US$10 bilion.

On the other hand, Discord is also reportedly mulling an initial public offering (IPO), and is, furthermore, merely leveraging Microsoft's apparent interest in its acquisition in order to magnify its value to the greatest extent possible prior to this event. Therefore, it is possible that the popular service is still keeping all its options open at this point.