Discord is an extremely popular chat app for gamers, and the company is also looking to move into game sales. Back in October, the company launched the Discord Store for games, which was supposed to compete with the huge Steam Store. And now Discord has announced that it has secured $150 million in funding, at a valuation of $2.05 billion.
The last time Discord raised money was in April of this year, when they raised $50 million in funding at a $1.65 billion valuation. The company has only grown since then, as evidenced by the influx of further cash and a higher valuation. The latest funding primarily came from investment group Greenoaks Capital, as well as other financiers such as Firstmark, Tencent, IVP, Index Ventures and Technology Opportunity Partners.
With this cash injection, Discord will expand the scope of its store. The store recently gained more attention when Discord announced that it would split revenue from game sales with developers for self-published titles 90/10, making it a financially more attractive option than the 70/30 split offered by Steam. The Discord Store is definitely smaller in scope and audience than the behemoth Steam Store at the moment, but Discord shows that it’s trying to bridge that gap.
Discord’s main focus will continue to be its chat service, which allows users to chat via text or voice and is a common tool used by clans, guilds and other gaming groups. The chat service is offered free of charge to all users, but has the option of purchasing a “Nitro” subscription which gives benefits such as unlimited access to the game collection and additional chat features. At $10 a month, Nitro could be a compelling option for gamers who want to play a lot of titles without having to shell out for each one. However, the catalog of available games is geared more towards indie and casual games, which may not appeal to Discord’s primary audience of hardcore gamers.
Investing in the Discord Store opens up another funding avenue for the company and is a smart move to cash in on the gaming audience that Discord has access to thanks to its popularity as a chat interface.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn