Sony and Discord are teaming up to bring the Discord app to PlayStation consoles. The surprise announcement comes just after Discord ended acquisition talks with Microsoft.
Discord is a chat app that’s especially popular in the gaming community. Sony’s new deal will connect the app into its PSN online network next year, though details on how exactly that will work remain unknown.
“Together, our teams are already hard at work connecting Discord with your social and gaming experience on PlayStation Network,” says PlayStation President and CEO Jim Ryan in a blog post. “Our goal is to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together.”
As part of the deal, Sony Interactive Entertainment made a minority investment in Discord as part of the company’s most recent funding round. Sony notably did not acquire Discord in the deal.
The news comes just after Microsoft made an attempt to buy Discord. The two companies were reportedly in advanced talks on a $10 billion deal. According to reports, Discord was in talks with at least three companies at the time, including Amazon and Epic Games, but decided to turn them down and stay independent.
The surprise news leaves some questions about the timeline of the whole deal. It’s not clear if Sony made a move in response to Discord turning its suitors down, or if deals were halted due to Sony’s proposal.
When asked for clarification about the timeline of the deal, Discord declined to comment. A spokesperson simply echoed Ryan’s statements.
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