Consolidation surrounding the video game industry has been happening more frequently, and the latest rumor involves Amazon and Electronic Arts. GLHF and USA Today reported that Amazon would announce a formal offer to acquire Electronic Arts later today. However, CNBC refuted those rumors stating that it would not be happening. It’s a confusing scenario, but it appears that EA and Amazon will stay as separate entities for now.
“I have talked to some people who would actually know if there was something going on, and they say, there’s nothing going on,” said CNBC’s David Faber to Joe Kernan. “These are people who would be involved, who in fact, were involved when our parent company, Joe, was talking to Electronic Arts.”
Faber is referring to the report earlier this year that NBCUniversal and Electronic Arts were in discussions to merge. Faber now confirms this report and mentions that Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson would’ve run the combined entity but also that he wanted voting control. However, negotiations fell through, reportedly due to disagreements around the price of the merger and how it would be structured. GLHF has since updated its story “it’s unclear whether that will happen” in regards to the acquisition.
Amazon is not going to make a bid for Electronic Arts, sources tell CNBC's @DavidFaber. Shares of $EA surged earlier on a report citing a "rumor." pic.twitter.com/k7wk0Fy7xv
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) August 26, 2022
EA also reportedly spoke with other companies aside from Amazon, including Disney and Apple. EA and Amazon would’ve made an interesting pair given that the latter hasn’t really established a strong foothold within the games industry yet aside from its Luna streaming service, the live streaming platform Twitch, and Lost Ark.
Amazon has had mixed success in its game development ventures. In 2018, Amazon Games canceled a multiplayer game called Breakaway. In 2020, it also shuttered Crucible, another free-to-play multiplayer game, after only five months from its release. However, the company found some modest success with its MMO games New World and Lost Ark. For now at least, it doesn’t look like EA will become part of Amazon Games.
