Puck says it isn’t sure which companies wanted a merger with EA and which were interested in a buyout. A merger though would have come with some guidelines. EA reportedly wants a merger only if its current CEO, Andrew Wilson, stays Chief Executive of the company afterwards.
Comcast approached EA about a merger
Puck says EA isn’t giving up on its efforts though. Noting that it continues to seek a partner or an owner. All of this comes at an interesting time as some of the gaming industry’s biggest names consolidate. Sony recently announced its acquisition of Destiny 2 studio Bungie. Microsoft agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard earlier this year. And both companies have purchased numerous other studios over the past 12 months. Prior to the Microsoft deal, Activision even reportedly shopped itself to EA. Even though EA’s most recent talks didn’t bear fruit, it seems a very real possibility that the publisher could end up as a partner down the road. Disney could have made sense. Considering EA’s rights to the Star Wars games. But Disney is no doubt more concerned with its streaming service. Wherever EA ends up, if anywhere, it stands to gain a lot. Most notably additional monetary backing. Which could strengthen its future projects and allow for more development. Not to mention a potentially wider reach for its game releases.
