TL;DR: A brand new report claims that Electronic Arts has been floating itself on a market that’s churning by way of recreation publishers. It’s talked to Amazon, Apple, and Disney a couple of potential acquisition, and even pursued a merger with NBCUniversal.
About $100 billion has been spent on recreation studios and publishers previously 12 months. Microsoft spent the vast majority of that selecting up Activision Blizzard and Bethesda’s mum or dad firm Zenimax, and Sony responsively grabbed Bungie and different smaller builders.
Now, the few publishers nonetheless on single-player mode are reconsidering their positions. Ubisoft expressed curiosity in being acquired in February, and Puck reviews that EA has been approaching potential consumers and negotiating mergers.
It got here fairly near merging with NBCUniversal, in line with Puck’s business sources. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts thought-about handing management of NBCUniversal over to EA CEO Andrew Wilson in a deal that might’ve seen the 2 corporations kind an leisure large. But the negotiations finally stalled when the 2 events could not decide on a value.
At its present market cap of just about $37 billion, EA could be the second-largest writer to ever be acquired, if that does occur. Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal is the most important acquisition of its type to date, and it is at present being stalled whereas beneath scrutiny from the FTC.
EA has additionally been buying new studios and franchises. In the final 18 months, it is spent $5 billion to accumulate two cell recreation studios in addition to Codemasters, the racing sim developer. But its basic IPs at the moment are in bother: EA’s unique license to supply Star Wars titles won’t be renewed in 2023, leaving the door open for different builders to create video games for the franchise.
Perhaps in response, EA approached Disney in March to inquire a couple of “extra significant relationship than licensing offers,” Puck’s sources say. Disney apparently did not specific a lot curiosity.
EA additionally confirmed this month that it might be ending its 25-year partnership with FIFA beginning subsequent 12 months. It will launch yet another recreation within the FIFA franchise later this 12 months earlier than rebranding its soccer video games as EA Sports FC in 2023.
