Electronic Arts It has tried to sell itself to Apple, Disney and other companies, driven by the millionaire agreement between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. According to a report from puckthe creators of FIFA Y Battlefield they were close to merging with NBC Universal at the beginning of this year. The deal would have elevated EA to a category where heavyweights like WarnerMedia or Disney compete.
Close sources confided to the media that Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, approached EA with a purchase proposal. Roberts, one of the most important people in the media, saw in Electronic Arts an opportunity to enter the video game industry. the tycoon proposed to Andrew Wilson, CEO of EAmerge his company with NBC Universal and put him in charge of the operation.
At first glance, the deal seemed important because of the potential for create synergies between NBC Universal and EA products. After several weeks of negotiations with lawyers and bankers, Electronic Arts purchase failed due to disagreements on price and structure. The sources did not reveal specific details, although they did mention that the Roberts family would have a majority stake in the resulting entity.
The report also mentions that EA has held talks with companies like Apple, Amazon and Disney. The latter is of particular interest to Andrew Wilson, who has a close relationship thanks to the exclusivity agreement with starwars.
Why would Disney be the perfect destination for EA?
The purchase of Activision Blizzard marked a before and after in the consolidation of the video game industry. Although Microsoft had acquired small studios, the offer of almost 70 billion dollars by the creators of Call of Duty it unleashed a domino effect on other companies, including Electronic Arts.
The Redwood City Company started talks with potential buyers to effect a merger. Although the list includes names like Apple or Amazon, with Disney it went a step further. The relationship between Andrew Wilson and the Mickey Mouse house is not only limited to the exclusivity of starwars. A few years ago, the CEO of EA was in the sights of Bob Iger, who viewed him as the ideal candidate to lead ESPN.
Becoming a company like Electronic Arts is not only absorbing its intellectual properties or studios, but also its entire development and distribution infrastructure. In Disney’s case, EA’s leadership in sports games could be combined with ESPNwhile studios like Respawn or BioWare could handle the development of new Marvel or Star Wars games.
How about a series of apex legends either Knights of the Old Republic on DisneyPlus? A mobile game The Mandalorian either The Book of Boba Fett that generates millions of dollars in micropayments? The chances are great though. closing a merger of this level is not easy.
Disney would not be interested, for now
Sources revealed that EA and Disney had a rapprochement in Marchand although the details of the meeting are unknown, it is rumored a possible purchase was discussed. Just as Comcast thought to merge EA with NBC Universal, Disney would do the same with ESPN.
The talks did not prosper and Disney left the negotiation. For now, the company is more interested in positioning its video service in streaming what spend more than 37,000 million dollars at a video game company.
Although the negotiations with Comcast or Disney did not come to fruition, it is still surprising that EA considered merging with a media conglomerate or even with a company that has never been interested in video gamesyes, like Apple.