Latest news with #JasonCitron
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Discord's CEO says he's stepping down, and these 3 major video game titles are at the top of his to-play list
Jason Citron is the cofounder and CEO of the messaging platform, Discord. Citron is stepping down as CEO and handing over the reins to a former Activision Blizzard executive. Citron said he has a backlog of three games that he wants to complete after stepping down. Discord cofounder Jason Citron, 40, said on Wednesday that he will be stepping down as CEO of the messaging platform. "I'll be transitioning to a new role as board member and advisor, and continuing to support Discord through this next chapter," Citron wrote in an X post on Wednesday. "I'm incredibly proud of what we've built together — and even more excited for what's ahead." Citron told the tech news publication VentureBeat that he doesn't have any concrete post-retirement plans lined up, though he will be spending more time with his family and on gaming. "I don't have specific plans for myself. I'll maybe take a bit of a break to spend time with my kids," Citron said, adding there were three games on his to-play list. "I need to finish Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I have a backlog. I want to play Blue Prince. I haven't even played Baldur's Gate III, believe it or not," Citron said. "Rebirth" is the 2024 sequel to the blockbuster "Final Fantasy VII" remake, a landmark release by the Japanese studio Square Enix. Meanwhile, "Baldur's Gate III," a fantasy adventuring game based loosely on "Dungeons & Dragons" mechanics, was released in August 2023 to wide acclaim. "Blue Prince," meanwhile, is a mystery and puzzle adventure game in which the player traverses a family estate in an attempt to find the ever-elusive 46th room. Discord said in a statement on the same day that the former vice chairman of Activision Blizzard, Humam Sakhnini, will be taking over from Citron as CEO from April 28. Citron cofounded Discord in 2015 with Stanislav Vishnevskiy. "The job of a CEO is constantly evolving, and over the years I have continuously 'hired myself out of a job.' Usually, that means delegating work and then taking on different leadership challenges," Citron said in a blog post to Discord employees on Wednesday. "However, as I look at what is needed of Discord's CEO over the next few years, I realize that it's time for me to literally 'hire myself out of a job,'" Citron continued. Citron said in his interview with VentureBeat that his decision to step back was based on who could "take Discord to the next level." "As you know, I'm more of a builder, an early-stage kind of guy," Citron said. Citron's departure sets him apart from most young tech founders who have continued to captain the companies they founded. Mark Zuckerberg, 40, continues to helm Meta, the social media company he cofounded in 2004. Evan Spiegel, 34, cofounded Snapchat in 2011 and remains its CEO. When approached for comment, a representative for Discord pointed Business Insider to Citron's blog and X posts. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Discord's CEO says he's stepping down, and these 3 major video game titles are at the top of his to-play list
Discord cofounder Jason Citron, 40, said on Wednesday that he will be stepping down as CEO of the messaging platform. "I'll be transitioning to a new role as board member and advisor, and continuing to support Discord through this next chapter," Citron wrote in an X post on Wednesday. "I'm incredibly proud of what we've built together — and even more excited for what's ahead." Citron told the tech news publication VentureBeat that he doesn't have any concrete post-retirement plans lined up, though he will be spending more time with his family and on gaming. "I don't have specific plans for myself. I'll maybe take a bit of a break to spend time with my kids," Citron said, adding there were three games on his to-play list. "I need to finish Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I have a backlog. I want to play Blue Prince. I haven't even played Baldur's Gate III, believe it or not," Citron said. "Rebirth" is the 2024 sequel to the blockbuster "Final Fantasy VII" remake, a landmark release by the Japanese studio Square Enix. Meanwhile, "Baldur's Gate III," a fantasy adventuring game based loosely on "Dungeons & Dragons" mechanics, was released in August 2023 to wide acclaim. "Blue Prince," meanwhile, is a mystery and puzzle adventure game in which the player traverses a family estate in an attempt to find the ever-elusive 46th room. Discord said in a statement on the same day that the former vice chairman of Activision Blizzard, Humam Sakhnini, will be taking over from Citron as CEO from April 28. Citron cofounded Discord in 2015 with Stanislav Vishnevskiy. "The job of a CEO is constantly evolving, and over the years I have continuously 'hired myself out of a job.' Usually, that means delegating work and then taking on different leadership challenges," Citron said in a blog post to Discord employees on Wednesday. "However, as I look at what is needed of Discord's CEO over the next few years, I realize that it's time for me to literally 'hire myself out of a job,'" Citron continued. Citron said in his interview with VentureBeat that his decision to step back was based on who could "take Discord to the next level." "As you know, I'm more of a builder, an early-stage kind of guy," Citron said. Citron's departure sets him apart from most young tech founders who have continued to captain the companies they founded. Mark Zuckerberg, 40, continues to helm Meta, the social media company he cofounded in 2004. Evan Spiegel, 34, cofounded Snapchat in 2011 and remains its CEO. When approached for comment, a representative for Discord pointed Business Insider to Citron's blog and X posts.
Bloomberg
23-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Discord Names New CEO as Co-Founder Steps Down Ahead of IPO
Discord Inc., the popular chat app, named a new chief executive officer, replacing co-founder and current CEO Jason Citron. Humam Sakhnini, who most recently served as the vice chairman of Activision Blizzard, managing a portfolio of hit games including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, will take up the role on April 28, according to a statement from the company Wednesday.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Discord CEO discusses IPO rumors, Nitro subscriber growth, and 'device agnostic' future of gaming
Investors and gamers are awaiting any announcement from Discord amid speculation that the video game chat company may be seeking an initial public offering (IPO). Discord CEO Jason Citron acknowledged that going public could be a future possibility but maintained that the team is focused on building the product and company. "You know, on the journey of any company that has raised venture capital and has shareholders, obviously, these kinds of things are talked about — and potentially in the future [it will happen]," Citron said about the company's IPO plans in a Yahoo Finance video interview (see video above). "But we're very focused on just making an amazing product and showing up every day to help people talk and hang out with their friends." In early March, the New York Times reported that the social chat startup met with bankers to explore an IPO. Meanwhile, several other tech companies, including AI play CoreWeave and the buy now, pay later app Klarna, are planning to test the public markets. Citron discussed his evolution from a game designer to his current role leading the virtual chat application, which reaches hundreds of millions of people. "It's been a wild journey to go from that ... humble beginnings of building games to becoming this place where people talk and spend time with their friends around games," Citron told Yahoo Finance. "But it's really rewarding because now we're in a position where we have over 200 million people that use our service every month, and we get to innovate on behalf of players." According to data provided by the company, Discord's monthly active users and daily active users have grown roughly 20% since mid-2021, the same year Discord was engaged in talks with Microsoft (MSFT) to be acquired for $10 billion. Though the deal was called off, the interest from one of the world's largest software companies highlighted the strength of the product, which was built in six years amid supercharged video game industry growth. "You know, our core business is actually a consumer subscription service that we offer within Discord," Citron said. "And what I love about that is people choose to spend money on our service when we're creating a lot of value for them." In an effort to create value for users, Discord is investing further into its Nitro subscription offering and rolling out additional tools for developers to bring their games to market. Most recently, it announced a new software development kit called Discord Social SDK. These investments aim to play into robust growth in the gaming industry. From 2011 through 2021, video game industry revenue grew by 150%, from $80 billion to $200 billion, according to data compiled by Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF co-operator Matthew Ball. That growth rate is 3.4 times more than the rise of global real GDP. As part of his gaming industry outlook, Citron noted how Discord can expand its core service. "I think that what we're going to see is over the next couple of years, ... we're going to be lowering the barriers to people playing different games with their friends, adopting new titles, and especially doing it across different platforms as more and more of the world becomes device agnostic," he said. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices
