Currently, the video game industry is undergoing a bunch of acquisitions. These range from Take Two’s recent acquisition of Zynga, a mobile game developer, Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, which was completed in 2021, and the American software company’s record buyout of Activision Blizzard. The Microsoft-Activision deal is going to cost the former a massive $68.7 billion. It is going to be the largest acquisition in video gaming history.
Recent reports suggest that Electronic Arts is also looking for a merger with another company. The list of potential partners includes Apple and Amazon. Comcast-NBCUniversal, and Disney. Reports even suggest that the company advanced talks with Comcast regarding a merger in which its NBCUniversal segment would partner with EA. In the newly formed company, Comcast’s current CEO, Brian Roberts, would enjoy maximum power while EA CEO Andrew Wilson would stay on to ensure optimal functioning of the company. But, the deal has fallen through as the differences surrounding the price and the suggested corporate structure post-merger.
EA prefers a merger over outright acquisition. The latter takes away almost all control from a company. But, a merger would allow current EA officials to exercise a lot of control over the company’s decisions and movements. The company also wants to keep Andrew Wilson to keep his office as the CEO post-merger. Thus, it is evident that EA is expecting a lot from the merger, thereby pointing at why any company has not signed a deal with the video game developer and publisher yet.
Reportedly, EA has not been doing well in the market. Some of its recent titles have failed miserably, and the company is disappointed with sales numbers too. EA is also looking forward to ending its deal with FIFA for its yearly football games. The company will come up with its version of the games, which reportedly will be called EA Sports FC.
