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[IbizaPocholo]

EA CEO Comments on Rumors of Possible Acquisition

The CEO of EA chimes in on recent rumors about the hypothetical acquisition of the company, explaining what's actually going on.

gamerant.com

According to Wilson, Electronic Arts could not "be in a stronger position as a standalone company" than it currently is. This information was brought about as part of the latest Q1 earnings call, and it's bound to be bolstered by the fact that EA's live-service games are rather successful. Wilson claimed that the company's objective is to keep its players and shareholders happy and that the current way of doing that doesn't seem to leave much performance on the table.

"We feel very very confident and excited," concluded Wilson, underlining the notion that Electronic Arts isn't very likely to get acquired by a bigger company anytime soon. Alongside its tried-and-true flagships such as Apex Legends and the various sports franchises it's collaborating with, EA also seems to have a hidden ace up its proverbial sleeve. Apparently, there's a major unannounced EA game launching in 2023, and it's entirely possible that it's yet another live-service offering to bolster the publisher's portfolio.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

So... next Wednesday it is?

 

[Kenneth Haight]

No one wants to buy you LOL

 

[Ozriel]

No one wants to buy you LOL

Only because they come with a lot of baggage. Otherwise, their annual Football games are basically a guaranteed money printer and serious console seller in case of exclusivity.

Happy they plan to remain independent

 

[DeepEnigma]

What rumors?

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

They can say whatever they want out loud, but they're publicly traded, for the right price they can't say no

 

[tmlDan]

im sure most companies/platform holders would want their sports and Apex Legends IP.

Not much else tho.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

im sure most companies/platform holders would want their sports and Apex Legends IP.

Not much else tho.

Lol

Battlefield
Dead space
Dragon age
Mass effect
Medal of honor (ehh)
Need for speed
The Sims
Titanfall

Yeah who'd want these ips???

 

[ManaByte]

Apparently, there's a major unannounced EA game launching in 2023, and it's entirely possible that it's yet another live-service offering to bolster the publisher's portfolio.

He's too excited about Black Panther.

 

[lefty1117]

MS acquisition IMO

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Rumours of an EA buyout have been going on for ages. First time I heard it was MS buying them I think around 2008 or 2010. Then the same rumour resurfaced maybe 3 years ago(?).

I'm sure they'd accept a buy out if the price is right. 99% of companies in buy out mode wont say it. Only a small number are brave enough to actually promote to wall street they are looking to be acquired and there's multiple offers they are considering.

Almost every time a buy out happens, it's announced after hours at 4 or 5 pm out of nowhere.

 

[anthony2690]

No one wants to buy you LOL

Come on, let's not talk nonsense.

I can imagine Microsoft would love to be able to say FIFA 23/whatever they call it in the future is day one on game pass, same with madden for the Americans.

& I can imagine the same would apply for Sony & their subscription service, it would be a huge draw to the platform/subscription service & they would get a bucket load of money from the FUT mtx & the madden equivalent.

& Everything else is pretty much a bonus on top off the cake.

 

[Camreezie]

Tencent or some other shit company

 

[chromhound]

Ubisoft and EA should merge to become the worst company of all time

 

[oldergamer]

EA CEO Comments on Rumors of Possible Acquisition

The CEO of EA chimes in on recent rumors about the hypothetical acquisition of the company, explaining what's actually going on.

gamerant.com

According to Wilson, Electronic Arts could not "be in a stronger position as a standalone company" than it currently is. This information was brought about as part of the latest Q1 earnings call, and it's bound to be bolstered by the fact that EA's live-service games are rather successful. Wilson claimed that the company's objective is to keep its players and shareholders happy and that the current way of doing that doesn't seem to leave much performance on the table.

"We feel very very confident and excited," concluded Wilson, underlining the notion that Electronic Arts isn't very likely to get acquired by a bigger company anytime soon. Alongside its tried-and-true flagships such as Apex Legends and the various sports franchises it's collaborating with, EA also seems to have a hidden ace up its proverbial sleeve. Apparently, there's a major unannounced EA game launching in 2023, and it's entirely possible that it's yet another live-service offering to bolster the publisher's portfolio.

They would only get acquired by someone really big. the previous rumors of them talking to companies was 100% false.

 

[oldergamer]

Lol

Battlefield
Dead space
Dragon age
Mass effect
Medal of honor (ehh)
Need for speed
The Sims
Titanfall

Yeah who'd want these ips???

mutant league... you didn't hear it from me

 

[Fox Mulder]

No one wants to buy you LOL

For all the hate that Google and Amazon got for their shitty gaming efforts, they haven’t even flexed their cash yet like MS has. Plus China is out there too.

 

[jigglet]

Independence allows them to be more cre…ok

 

[AllBizness]

No one wants to buy you LOL

Cant blame them. Most of thier successful IP is tied to license agreements. Their downfall is even though they know how to do live servi e games quite well they shied away from it because they want to sell us $60/$70 games every year from said franchises. Battlefield comes to mind as does Anthem. No reason those games should be dead right now but EA didn't want to do the live service thing because not everyone will buy thatdlcs. They'd rather just sell you a new game next year at full price. Problem is games take too long to make now so now they really do need live service games. Sony and EA both found put the hard way they both should've been making live service games.

 

[CatLady]

I hope EA stays 3rd party and independent but if someone is going to buy them, I would want it to be Xbox/MS.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

The thing about ea is if you remove their licences they are... barely a thing. Fifa, Star Wars, etc are their thing.

This would be the least exciting acquisition ever.

 

[yurinka]

MS is busy with the ABK acquisition so won't make any big acquisition for a while.

Sony can't afford them with their current acquisitions+investments+Sony stock repurchases budget budget (for the whole Sony, not only SIE) and pretty likely aren't interested on them, but instead are more interested in growing in other areas & genres.

I only see Tencent as the only ones possibly interested on acquiring them and with enough money to buy them.

The thing about ea is if you remove their licences they are... barely a thing. Fifa, Star Wars, etc are their thing.

This would be the least exciting acquisition ever.

In addition to FIFA and Star Wars they have more stuff that prints money, like Apex Legends, Need For Speed (a ton of years ago were over 150M copies sold) or The Sims.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The thing about ea is if you remove their licences they are... barely a thing. Fifa, Star Wars, etc are their thing.

This would be the least exciting acquisition ever.

Very true. Sports heavy.

They got some big games like Sims and Apex though, but most of their big games are popular licensed based games.

They either have trouble, or simply and purposely dont want to focus AAA resources on unproven things. Some of their recent big IPs like Mass Effect, BF and Anthem were trainwrecks. They cant even get those right.

 

[NickFire]

As long as they can maintain licensing costs and keep selling ultimate team packs, I would think they would / will be in a better position than before all the consolidation. Entirely possible I am way off base, but won't they have even more smaller studios looking for cross platform publishers than before? All while competitors scale back their audience by intentional design.

 

[Clear]

EA are doing just fine fiscally, and the more other consolidation happens around them the better they are likely to do.

For most studios something like an Anthem would be a death-sentence, but it being EA... its just another day at the office!

 

[PhaseJump]

Saudi Arabia should buy them and make them a subsidiary of SNK. Just because it would be stupid and hilarious.

Neo Geo will come back with a vengeance.

 

[intheinbetween]

The thing about ea is if you remove their licences they are... barely a thing. Fifa, Star Wars, etc are their thing.

This would be the least exciting acquisition ever.

Well, certainly FIFA not anymore, though EA has an impressive portfolio of interesting IPs.

Honestly I don’t see MS or Sony acquiring EA, but if I was asked this very same thing about Activisiom back in the day I would have given the same answer, so who knows?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Tams]

What rumors?

These rumours that he just made up, derrr.

 

[SJRB]

Didn't Activision Blizzard say the same thing literally a week before it was announced they were bought by MS?

In any case: shut the FUCK up, Andrew. You suck.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

no idea

Wow you got me.

They've already announced dead space remake coming soon, working on sims 5,working on mass effect mainline entry, working on next dragon age entry, working on next gen need for speed entry.

DeAd

Even if they weren't, I'm sure that other publishers wouldn't like being able to add to those franchises.... Big brain thinking over here, one of the few that actually are dead is the one that you aren't sure of

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Lol

Battlefield
Dead space
Dragon age
Mass effect
Medal of honor (ehh)
Need for speed
The Sims
Titanfall

Yeah who'd want these ips???

EA did at one time. It's amazing how good some of the franchises were before.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

EA did at one time. It's amazing how good some of the franchises were before.

They're currently working on the next entry for all of those besides titan fall, battlefield, and medal of honor, to my knowledge.

EDIT: and battlefield obviously isn't dead, next release will be hyped as well, but I don't think they're working on the next one yet (could be wrong)

 

[solidus12]

Xbox should acquire the whole gaming industry minus Sony.

 

[tmlDan]

Lol

Battlefield (dead)
Dead space (dead)
Dragon age (dead)
Mass effect (kinda alive)
Medal of honor (Dead)
Need for speed (dead)
The Sims (kinda alive)
Titanfall (this is Apex now)

Yeah who'd want these ips???

yea, I am talking about IP's that bring in ridiculous revenue not useless IP's you can jerk off to.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Lol

Battlefield
Dead space
Dragon age
Mass effect
Medal of honor (ehh)
Need for speed
The Sims
Titanfall

Yeah who'd want these ips???

Don’t nobody to want Battlefield right now..not even Dice apparently

 

[cash_longfellow]

Xbox should acquire the whole gaming industry minus Sony.

And still couldn’t put out a quality exclusive

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

yea, I am talking about IP's that bring in ridiculous revenue not useless IP's you can jerk off to.

They're currently working on a new game for every franchise I listed besides battlefield (obviously will eventually), medal of honor, and titan fall (I don't really count apex, but that's just a personal opinion)

EDIT: even without the 5 franchises getting a new entry, the fact everyone just knows their name gives it value. And anyone who thinks the sims doesn't draw revenue is literally retarded

 

[Camreezie]

He wouldnt say any different even if they were in talks for an acquisition

 

[darthvaderer]

Lol

Battlefield
Dead space
Dragon age
Mass effect
Medal of honor (ehh)
Need for speed
The Sims
Titanfall

Yeah who'd want these ips???

Don’t forget my baby “Battlefront” please

 

[El Pistolero]

MS is busy with the ABK acquisition so won't make any big acquisition for a while.

Sony can't afford them with their current acquisitions+investments+Sony stock repurchases budget budget (for the whole Sony, not only SIE) and pretty likely aren't interested on them, but instead are more interested in growing in other areas & genres.

I only see Tencent as the only ones possibly interested on acquiring them and with enough money to buy them.


In addition to FIFA and Star Wars they have more stuff that prints money, like Apex Legends, Need For Speed (a ton of years ago were over 150M copies sold) or The Sims.

There were some rumours surrounding Apple as a potential suitor...

 

[PhaseJump]

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

dead franchise

no idea

A ton of dead franchises selling on par with, or better than Dragon Quest.

The Sims itself is a juggernaut brand. It just needs a sequel that plays well, and it will push millions. Dwarfing most if not all of the weeaboo pandering shit on the market.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

Don’t forget my baby “Battlefront” please

I didn't lol, but I didn't include it because EA doesn't own the IP, made a point of not including any licensed games

 

[tmlDan]

They're currently working on a new game for every franchise I listed besides battlefield (obviously will eventually), medal of honor, and titan fall (I don't really count apex, but that's just a personal opinion)

EDIT: even without the 5 franchises getting a new entry, the fact everyone just knows their name gives it value. And anyone who thinks the sims doesn't draw revenue is literally retarded

yea, again:

Battlefield (doing very poorly, bad rep)
Dead space (remake of an old game, not gonna sell much)
Dragon age (Inq only sold 6 million, came out 8-9 years ago)
Mass effect (hasn't done well lately, only sold 5M copies - andromeda - on all platforms 6 years ago)
Medal of honor (it's 100% dead and doesn't sell)
Need for speed (also doesn't sell well anymore)
The Sims (this likely does well with how exp the expansions are, so you got me on Sims)
Titanfall (this is dead, its Apex - opinion or not)

Value does not equate to revenue, esp when the teams are not capable of making good games anymore. Revenue is worth, which Apex and the sports games bring in consistently, they are not gambles.

 

[killatopak]

I’m still playing the sims and a new dlc just came up this past month. I reckon I’m the only person here in gaf that keeps playing it. It’s pretty big though especially on reddit and patreon with paid mods.

 

[Calverz]

Get him out of there the robbin bastard. He has single handedly ruined football games and introduced gambling to minors.

Fuck right off

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

yea, again:

Battlefield (doing very poorly, bad rep)
Dead space (remake of an old game, not gonna sell much)
Dragon age (Inq only sold 6 million, came out 8-9 years ago)
Mass effect (hasn't done well lately, only sold 5M copies - andromeda - on all platforms 6 years ago)
Medal of honor (it's 100% dead and doesn't sell)
Need for speed (also doesn't sell well anymore)
The Sims (this likely does well with how exp the expansions are, so you got me on Sims)
Titanfall (this is dead, its Apex - opinion or not)

Value does not equate to revenue, esp when the teams are not capable of making good games anymore. Revenue is worth, which Apex and the sports games bring in consistently, they are not gambles.

OK, I'm sure they're working on need for speed, dragon age, mass effect, and dead space because they plan to lose money, you got me, they're totally dead on arrival,and I'm sure that no other publishers would want to work on them if they could.

EDIT: and you can call titan fall whatever you want, but apex isn't the same kind of game. It'd be like calling halo wars a mainline entry because it takes place in the same universe

 

[Skifi28]

Dead Space

dead franchise

When you're right, you're right.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Come on, let's not talk nonsense.

I can imagine Microsoft would love to be able to say FIFA 23/whatever they call it in the future is day one on game pass, same with madden for the Americans.

& I can imagine the same would apply for Sony & their subscription service, it would be a huge draw to the platform/subscription service & they would get a bucket load of money from the FUT mtx & the madden equivalent.

& Everything else is pretty much a bonus on top off the cake.

FIFA is now no longer tied to EA I think? I think this was the last year of the license. Plus Battlefield 2042 tanking. I’m sure they’re still fine and as many people have said, they have a lot of IP, but there are other developers/publishers that would be more tempting potentially. I was only joking, I’m sure someone wants to buy them. I just hate all this consolidation nonsense.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Dead Space is definitely dead. EA make sure to kill it off when they dissolved Visceral. yes they're doing a remake of the original Dead Space, but I see it as more of a money grab and maybe testing the water to see if maybe they can also squeeze more money out of the the whole series if they remake them all. that and the fact is we have The Callisto Protocol coming soon.

on topic thou, EA would be a good buy for sure just for the sport games alone. I have no interest what so ever of most of EA's output these days, but even I know that they make bank selling the same sports games with a new coat of paint every year to all the people buying them up. that and all the loot boxes/mtx shit. on a business stand point, if the price is a right, I'm sure someone will want to buy it.