[Update as of August 26, 10:21 AM]
Reports on the acquisition are now conflicting, with USA Today’s report via Swedish press agency Good Luck Have Fun standing by the imminent offer. However, CNBC responded soon after, reporting that there are no plans for Amazon to acquire EA.
Due to this morning’s report, EA shares climbed 15 percent before dropping after the rumors were put into question. We will continue to follow the story as it develops.
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Amazon will reportedly announce the acquisition of Electronic Arts later today. This information comes from sources near GLHF, who claim the buyout will be announced within the next 24 hours.
Electronic Arts hasn’t been in its best shape recently. The company has been looking for a sale or merger for a few months now. Rumors stated that EA was in talks with several potential buyers, such as Disney, Apple, or Comcast-NBCUniversal. It seems EA finally made a deal with a company, and not any company: Amazon will reportedly announce its intent to purchase the publisher later today.
Amazon buying EA would reinforce its position in gaming. The company already owns Twitch, the leader of gaming streaming alongside YouTube. Amazon wasn’t a major video game developer but this might soon change with the acquisition of EA.
EA is mainly known as the publisher of FIFA, Battlefield, The Sims, and Apex Legends. If the added value of Amazon to The Sims is unclear at this time, FIFA would probably benefit from this new owner. Amazon owns the publishing rights to UK’s Premier League and France’s Ligue 1 soccer matches. Since EA was in a feud with FIFA for their next soccer game, the intervention of Amazon could ease the situation.
For football fans, Amazon began streaming NFL matches on Prime. EA happens to be the official distributor of NFL games with its Madden series, so the deal with Amazon is an ideal match.
If Amazon buys Electronic Arts, it would become the owner of several popular video game developers. EA owns various studios across the globe, notably EA Sports (FIFA, Madden, NHL, and UFC series) and EA Mobile, porting the publisher’s games to mobiles.
EA is the parent company of several studios, including:
- BioWare (Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect, Dragon Age)
- DICE (Battlefield, Mirror’s Edge, Star Wars Battlefront)
- Criterion (Burnout, Need for Speed)
- Codemasters (Grid, Project CARS)
- Maxis (The Sims, SimCity)
- Motive Studio (Dead Space remake)
- PopCap (Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies)
- Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall, Apex Legends)
On top of establishing itself as a major force in gaming, Amazon could also expand EA’s licenses outside of video games. Amazon could create films or series based on EA’s popular licenses, such as Mass Effect, Dead Space, or Dragon Age. The company could then make these shows available only on Amazon Prime, bringing even more subscribers to its streaming service.
With the purchase of Electronic Arts, Amazon might join the gang of major video game publishers. So far, the biggest gaming companies are Tencent, Sony, Apple, and Microsoft. But as Electronic Arts is a giant in gaming, its buyout would bring Amazon among the most powerful gaming companies.
The official announcement of Amazon buying Electronic Arts should come out later today. More details about this acquisition should follow shortly after.
