While the market of video game publishers is particularly agitated these last months, new sources indicate that Electronic Arts ( EA ) has been trying to sell itself for some time. The company has been in discussions with Amazon, Apple and Disney about a potential acquisition.
Microsoft and Sony seem to have embarked on a race for critical size in the year 2021. So Microsoft spent a record amount of money to pick up Activision Blizzard and Bethesda’s parent company, Zenimax. Sony responded with a bid for Bungie and other smaller developers. Now every independent publisher is a potential target. According to market reports, Comcast boss Brian Roberts considered handing over control of NBCUniversal to EA CEO Andrew Wilson in a proposed merger that would have seen the two companies form an entertainment giant. But the negotiations turned into a fiasco when the two parties started talking money.
EA too alone and without a “license”?
To get an idea of the scales, EA’s current market capitalization is nearly $37 billion. A figure to be compared with the 69 billion dollars spent by Microsoft to swallow Activision Blizzard.
So why the rush to deal by EA? It seems that one of the reasons is the expiry of many rights and licenses that EA was using. We immediately think of EA’s exclusive license to produce Star Wars titles or the end of the 25 years partnership with FIFA. At the same time, the will shown by Netflix, Amazon and to a lesser extent Apple to strengthen their content including in gaming, makes many people salivate. After two years of madness, some may say that it is now time to cash in?
