Electronic Arts has been looking for months to buy out or merge with major companies such as Apple.
Since Microsoft completed its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media and is preparing its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, the video game industry has been consolidating like never before. Recently, Electronic Arts was ready to merge with NBCUniversal and become part of the American media group Comcast Corporation. The deal was not completed due to disagreements over the buyout price and post-merger restructuring. After this setback, Apple decided to position itself from the first approach like Disney and Amazon.
Apple in talks to buy EA gaming, Disney and Amazon also potential suitors https://t.co/YigYyvWULA by @aamcdani
“We do not comment on rumors and speculation regarding mergers and acquisitions,”said John Reseburg, a spokesman for US publisher Electronic Arts. “We pride ourselves on operating from a position of strength and growth, with a huge portfolio of games powered by powerful licenses built by incredibly talented teams and a network of over half a billion players. We see a very bright future ahead.”
Who should buy Electronic Arts?
The ideal candidate for the EA merger was Disney. However, the entertainment company is not interested in further discussions, likely because it is focused on expanding its Disney+ subscriber base in addition to a possible merger with ESPN. Thus, Electronic Arts and Apple could be a good alliance. In 1982, Trip Hawkins, then Apple’s director of strategy and marketing, resigned to form EA. This type of takeover won’t be Apple’s first foray into gaming. In addition to the Pippin, the Cupertino-based company launched its Apple Arcade service in 2019 and could bring its own console to market in a few years.