Video game publishing giant Electronic Arts is reportedly trying to strike a merger deal with the likes of Disney and Amazon. EA has a great many developers and gaming properties under its belt, from sports titles like Madden NFL and FIFA to BioWare-developed RPGs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. In early earnings calls dating back to this February, EA CEO Andrew Wilson indicated that his company was looking to grow its brand even further by focusing on acquisitions - with the publisher spending over $5 billion on new studios over the previous year.
There have been several major gaming buyouts from other companies throughout the past few years, with Microsoft bolstering its already massive collection of Xbox-exclusive game studios by acquiring Zenimax and Bethesda back in March 2021. Additionally, the scandal-ridden Activision Blizzard made even more headlines earlier this year by announcing a similar sale to Microsoft following a wave of controversy surrounding sexual misconduct and discrimination by its higher-ranking executives - though this has triggered yet another lawsuit by the state of New York due to the supposedly rushed manner in which embroiled Activision CEO Bobby Kotick carried out the deal. Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption 2 publisher Take-Two announced a purchase of Zynga back in January, and Sony followed up the recent Activision Blizzard news by acquiring former Halo studio Bungie. With the video game industry seemingly consolidating like never before, it looks like EA is pursuing a merger of its own.
As reported by Kotaku, EA has reportedly attempted talks with several entertainment conglomerates including Disney, Amazon, Apple, and NBC Universal in hopes that one of them will purchase its vast library of games and IPs. EA is said to have been inspired by Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision Blizzard, and is reportedly pursuing a deal that would allow current CEO Andrew Wilson to remain as a chief executive at whatever company does end up purchasing EA. According to a report from Puck, a discussion with NBC Universal was the closest to getting a deal signed as Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was looking to spin his company off into a separate entity with EA, though these negotiations ultimately fell through over pricing. As of this writing, EA spokesperson John Reseburg declined to comment on any rumors surrounding the publisher’s supposed buyout attempts, simply stating that EA is “proud to be operating from a position of strength and growth, with a portfolio of amazing games, built around powerful IP, made by incredibly talented teams, and a network of more than half a billion players.”
This new development surrounding EA comes at a tumultuous time for the publishing juggernaut, which has either lost or abandoned some of EA's biggest third-party licenses over the past couple of years. EA’s nearly decade-long deal with Disney over the exclusive rights to develop games based on the Star Wars franchise was already divisive among fans, and recently the House of Mouse started shopping said rights to other publishers like Ubisoft. Likewise, EA announced that it would be ending its 10-year-long deal with FIFA last week, and the long-running EA Sports franchise will be rebranded starting in 2023.
Naturally, many are concerned over the recent rise in mergers and buyouts within the gaming industry, especially in how they could lead to monopolies and layoffs. However, it seems that Electronic Arts is looking to be the latest publisher to consolidate its assets with a larger corporation - though whether or not it will follow through on this plan remains to be seen.