Acquisitions in the games industry have been getting more and more frequent and larger and larger in scale, and we’re now at a point where even major third party publishers look like candidates for purchases. Bethesda and Activision Blizzard have both been picked up by Microsoft, Square Enix is selling off the bulk of its western business to the Embracer Group, and reports say that WB Games is also on the verge of being sold off.
And it seems that another major publisher that could be next in like is EA. As per a report published by Puck, EA has, in recent months, been actively pursuing a sale for itself, or a merger with another company, and these efforts have only been redoubled following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft (which is set to be finalized by sometime in 2023).
Supposedly, EA was in discussions with Comcast-NCB Universal about a potential deal, and one of their more serious discussions saw Comcast CEO Brian Roberts proposing that NBC Universal be spun off into its own company and merged with EA, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson leading the merged organization. Allegedly, as recently as last month, that deal fell apart due to disagreements over price and structure.
EA, however, still seems to be looking for potential suitors, and has allegedly approached major companies for the same, including the likes of Amazon, Disney, and Apple. Allegedly, the company is, first and foremost, eyeing mergers that will still allow its CEO Andrew Wilson to remain in charge, similar to the proposed aforementioned Comcast deal, which fell through.
Of course, this isn’t something that’s been confirmed, but given how much the industry has been moving into the mergers and acquisitions space in recent months and even the last couple of years, it’s not surprising to find out that some of the biggest players are looking to eye similar deals.
Recently, we learned that Ubisoft was looking to partner with private equity firms in an attempt to hold off takeover bids- read more on that through here.