Gaming studios are being purchased on the left, right and in the middle. Microsoft announced in January that it had reached a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, and Sony followed suit a few weeks later with a deal to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion.
Now Electronic Arts – the studio behind The Sims, Battlefield and FIFA – is actively looking for a potential buyer or merger that will unlock its full potential.
EA looking for buyer or merger
A new report from puck reveals that NBCUniversal approached Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson shortly after the Microsoft Activision deal was announced. The idea would be to merge both companies, with Wilson as CEO of the combined entity. The media and gaming giants have been negotiating the terms of such a deal for several weeks, and while talks are progressing, the proposal fell within the past month or so.
However, this does not stop EA from looking for a merger or purchaser. In fact, Puck’s report notes that the company is more determined than ever to strike a deal following Microsoft’s agreement to buy Activision Blizzard.
Among the potential suitors that Electronic Arts has had conversations with are Amazon, Disney, and Apple. It’s unclear how advanced these discussions have become, but such a deal could be of great interest to all three.
In Apple’s case, the acquisition of Electronic Arts would give it access to a huge library of gaming IPs that could be used to boost Apple Arcade, turn the brand’s upcoming AR/VR headset into a gaming powerhouse. and even give it the brand’s Apple TV+ streaming service. more IP to play with.
The situation with Amazon is said to be similar thanks to the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service and the Prime Video streaming service. However, Disney’s ambitions are likely to focus on IP for Disney+.