It’s time to consolidate! Electronic Arts, video game publisher to whom we owe some excellent titles Star Warsrenowned sports licenses, the indescribable sims or the license Need for Speedwhich has had a few road trips, is looking for a merger or a buyer.
A market that concentrates
Since Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard last January for close to $69 billion, the video game world has been shuddering with the air of consolidation. The latest player to dance to this music would therefore be Electronic Arts, which is in active discussion with Apple.
If the Cupertino giant is in the running, it would not be alone, Disney and Amazon are or have also been in the loop, it seems. The publisher of Redwood City, which is therefore only a few kilometers from Apple’s headquarters, would rather seek a merger, so that its current CEO, Andrew Wilson, takes the helm of the new entity. It is quite unlikely that this will be the case if his company is taken over by one of the three giants mentioned.
The Apple case
Nevertheless, the acquisition of Electronic Arts by Apple would not be implausible and devoid of interest. On the contrary, it would confirm the interest of the American giant for video games, and could also help it in the fights to come, in particular in that of virtual or augmented reality. Of course, it would also be very beneficial to its current ecosystem. Since the 2019 launch of its subscription video game service, Arcade, Apple has shown that it has ambition, but sometimes lacks known titles to attract players and retain them.
However, this could complicate the life of Electronic Arts, in its competitive relations, or even in its partnerships, with Disney in particular.
Disney, preferred choice?
Moreover, the entertainment giant would have been the first player considered by EA. The publisher indeed works very closely with Disney since it has developed games set in the Star Wars universe for several years now. Three new titles in partnership with Lucasfilm Games were announced last January.
Nevertheless, Disney would not have shown any desire to acquire Electronic Arts, which could nevertheless have taken place, in one way or another, in an extended Disney + offer – like what Netflix is starting to do with “little ones” games.
Amazon is also increasingly present in the field of video games. He has, over the years, built up a set of studios, with more or less success. The path followed by the e-commerce giant is more cloud-oriented, with Luna, its service presented in September 2020. Acquiring Electronic Arts would allow it to further consolidate its catalog.
EA seems relatively in a hurry to reach an agreement, so it is quite possible that we will hear again about this acquisition in the coming days or weeks. Meanwhile, the action of Electronic Arts gained 2.3% yesterday at the close of trading.
Source : 9to5mac