Discord has announced a major leadership change as it prepares to enter the business world. Humam Sakhnini, who previously served as Blizzard Activision’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, has been named Discord’s new CEO.
Alongside this executive change, the popular communication platform revealed potential plans to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Sakhnini brings substantial gaming industry experience to his new role. At Activision Blizzard, he helped oversee corporate strategy and business growth. His background also includes leadership positions at King, the mobile gaming division behind massive hits like Candy Crush Saga, where he helped grow the mobile gaming business significantly.
This move shows Discord’s goal to beef up its business operations before jumping into the public market. Since its founding in 2015, Discord has grown from a gaming-focused chat service to a communication platform with over 200 million monthly active users spanning diverse communities from education to hobby groups and developer forums.
Discord’s journey to this point includes turning down several acquisition offers in recent years, most notably a reported $10 billion offer from Microsoft. Instead, the platform has focused on independent growth, rolling out premium features through its Nitro subscription service while maintaining free access to core functionality.
The company has established key strategic partnerships in the gaming world, including integrations with PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Sony, which makes PlayStation, even holds a minority investment in Discord, further cementing the platform’s position as the top choice for cross-platform communication among gamers.
Over the last few months, Discord has added new features and updated its look, which some users guess might have been getting things ready for the upcoming public offering. These changes include voice changers, a bigger shop, and tweaks around the platform that point to a greater push for making money.
User reactions to the announcement have been mixed. Some express concerns about potential changes to the platform’s free services following the IPO. “If Discord changes into something we don’t like, I’m fairly confident one of us is just gonna remake it better,” one user commented, while others wondered if this might drive users back to legacy platforms like TeamSpeak.
From voice chat to Wall Street
Going public means Discord will feel more pressure to boost revenue and show profits. Right now, the platform mainly brings in money through Nitro subscriptions, server boosts, and marketplace offerings—a pretty different path from the ad-heavy routes taken by many social platforms. The challenge for Sakhnini will be keeping shareholders happy while not losing the user-friendly vibe that made Discord so popular.
