You might have heard the rumours that Microsoft (and others) have been in talks to acquire gaming chat service Discord. Now The Wall Street Journal reports that things are getting serious, with Microsoft being in "advanced talks" to settle the deal. 

The report also suggests that not only are the companies in exclusive talks but that the deal could be completed as soon as next month. 

It's unsurprising to see Microsoft making moves to expand its reach in this area. Microsoft Teams has been doing well during the pandemic, but Skype's popularity has been dwindling and the company is keen to be able to talk to more communities - not just Xbox gamers. 

Discord has proved incredibly popular with gamers in the last few years, growing at an impressive rate since it first launched in 2015.

A free voice and chat service that's similar to Slack, Discord allows gamers to get together in all sorts of ways, whether just chatting while gaming together or joining communities, following and sharing news or even live streaming on the platform. 

That popularity is now apparently paying off, with some reports suggesting that Discord is in talks to sell for as much as $10 billion.

Discord apparently has 140 million monthly users and managed to generate $100 million in revenue last year alone. 

Gamers have mixed feelings about Microsoft acquiring Discord though, but there are also rumours that Discord could still choose to go public instead. So time will tell.