Why Microsoft wants to go for this $10 billion acquisition

Microsoft Corp. and Discord Inc. hold a great deal of sway with video game fans. As they now hold talks for a potential $10 billion acquisition, a deal would join two companies in pursuit of audiences far beyond gamers.

Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, programmers and entrepreneurs, founded San Francisco-based Discord in 2015 as a platform for people to chat while playing video games together. The free service offers voice, video and text as well as gamer-friendly features including the ability for users to broadcast the name of the game they are playing.

The app became popular a few years ago, rising alongside smash multiplayer hits like Epic Games Inc.’s Fortnite.