Community and Cookies: What Microsoft Wants With Discord

The ad-free platform fits perfectly into its gaming ambitions

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Microsoft has spent the year shopping, making it painfully clear it wants a new consumer property.

After unsuccessful entreaties to buy TikTok and Pinterest, Microsoft has turned its gaze toward chat app Discord. The two companies are now in “exclusive talks” and could complete a deal in April, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Discord might also benefit Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, and could ultimately position Microsoft for dominance in a post-cookie world.

“[Microsoft] can bring Discord in and leverage it for the Xbox community,” said Whitney Fishman Zember, managing partner for innovation and consumer technology at the media agency Wavemaker.

“People

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