Sony announces PlayStation partnership with Discord

What you need to know

• Discord is a chat platform used by millions every day.
• Sony announced it would be partnering with Discord and connecting it to the PlayStation Network.
• Discord had previously been considering an acquisition offer from Microsoft, but reportedly turned it down.

In a surprise move, Sony announced today it would be partnering with Discord to integrate the popular chat platform into the PlayStation ecosystem. Discord will be connected to "your social and gaming experience on PlayStation Network" starting sometime early next year.

The announcement comes from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, who said in a statement: "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."

We don't know exactly what this integration will look like. It could mean that a dedicated Discord app is coming to PlayStation, or it could mean you can integrate your Discord and PSN friends lists so you can chat with your friends anywhere. The two services haven't been closely integrated before, but there are workarounds that let you add PlayStation Rich Presence to Discord.

As for how it made this partnership happen, Ryan says Sony made a minority investment in Discord as part of its Series H round. He believes the two companies' values align: "Empowering players to create communities and enjoy shared gaming experiences is at the heart of what we do, so we are beyond excited to start this journey with one of the world's most popular communication services."

This is a very big swerve from the previous news about Discord, which was that the company was on the verge of being purchased by Microsoft for $10 billion. Jez Corden from Windows Central pointed out how such an acquisition would improve Microsoft's lackluster messaging services. The rumors about the purchase began last month, but a week ago Discord reportedly ended talks with Microsoft and at least two other companies, wishing to remain independent.

We know that Discord was entertaining an offer from at least one other gaming company, albeit for partnership and not acquisition. After all, Ryan didn't say how much money Sony invested the Series H round.

Sony promises to have more details for users in the coming months. In the meantime, users might want to invest in one of the best PS5 headsets for when Discord integration comes to PlayStation.