Photo: Christian Petersen (Getty Images)
The video game market is consolidating like never before, and Electronic Arts is struggling like everyone else. The maker of Battlefield and FIFA recently pursued a merger with NBCUniversal, and also held potential acquisition talks with Disney, Apple and other companies, according to a new Puck report. Although the deal is not currently working, it does not sound that EA plans to cancel soon.
In recent years, as media companies have shown greater interest in the fast-growing gaming industry, Wilson and Electronic Arts have interviewed a number of different potential suitors, including Disney, Apple and Amazon, sources familiar with the conversation told me. “Wrote veteran Puck media reporter Dylan Bears. “Several sources familiar with these conversations say that EA has been persistent in the pursuit of sales and has become even bolder after the deal with Microsoft-Activision. Others say EA is primarily interested in a merger agreement that would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company.
But apparently the deal with NBCUniversal got the most. According to Bears, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts wanted to separate the entertainment conglomerate into a separate unit with EA, with a version of the deal leaving current EA CEO Andrew Wilson in charge of the new mega-business. Eventually, however, price negotiations fell apart.
* dun-dun *
“We are not commenting on rumors and speculation about mergers and acquisitions,” EA spokesman John Reseberg told Kotaku in a statement. “We are proud to work from a position of strength and growth, with a portfolio of amazing games built around a powerful IP created by incredibly talented teams and a network of more than half a billion players. We see a very bright future ahead of us. “
G / O Media may receive a commission
Pre-order
AnkerMake M5 3D printer
5X faster printing and AI CameraPrint Printing time reduced by 70% | Smooth 0.1 mm Detail Built – in AI camera monitoring Multi – device hub Multicolor and material set
Read more: Private Equity sees Ubisoft as the next big game acquisition
Last year saw a frenzy over video game studio acquisitions that were sent to overdrive in January after publisher Grand Theft Auto Take-Two announced it was buying Zynga for $ 12.7 billion and Microsoft announced plans to buy producer of Call of Duty Activision Blizzard for $ 69 billion. Sony followed weeks later with a $ 3.6 billion deal to buy the studio behind Destiny 2, Bungie, a price some analysts say is high and probably a sign of another crazy rush to consolidate among the biggest players in the gaming industry. industry.
In a call for profits in February, Andrew Wilson hinted that the company was focused on acquisitions, not acquisitions. As proof, EA spent $ 5 billion last year to buy studios to increase its size. But now it seems that the publisher has aggressively pursued other ways to increase. Beyers said Wilson had approached Disney back in March in pursuit of what sources described as a “more meaningful connection” than licensing deals. “
This news comes when EA loses or abandons some of its largest existing licensing deals. Although the publisher recently unveiled three new Star Wars games currently in production, including a new Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, rumored to be out in early 2023, his exclusive deal with Disney for a license to Star Wars will not be resumed when it expires in 2023. This allows competitors such as Quantic Dream and Ubisoft to announce their own major Star Wars projects. EA also revealed last week that it is ending a similar 10-year exclusivity deal with FIFA and will rebrand its blockbuster football franchise EA Sports FC in early 2023.
Whatever the future of EA, one big problem with consolidation is how it will ultimately affect employees in these companies. Even when EA announced another winning year, Kotaku recently learned that approximately 200 customer service employees had been laid off. According to four of the employees concerned, their work is outsourced to cheaper third-party suppliers in Romania and India.
Comcast, Disney and Apple did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Add Comment