Everyone From Apple To Disney Is Rumored To Be Thinking Of Buying EA Games

According to the Puck News report, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts reportedly considered purchasing Electronic Arts all the way back in January, when it still would have cost about $40 billion. This was apparently a response to the previously noted Activision-Blizzard buy made by Microsoft. That said, it didn’t work out. As noted in the report, EA Sports Vice President of Global Communications John Reseburg stated that the company would not speculate on anything rumored about a potential merger. He pressed this point further by promoting EA’s “portfolio of amazing games, built around powerful IP,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean Electronic Arts doesn’t want a buyer.

The Puck report claims that “sources familiar” with the company’s internal M&A discussions are indeed looking for ways to pursue a sale; however, it’d make sense to conclude that Comcast was simply the wrong buyer. In fact, the game publisher had apparently been in talks with Disney, Apple, and Amazon for some time, meaning that the company has the benefit of choice. All three of these companies have already made strides into gaming, albeit in a much more indirect way than Microsoft or Sony, usually licensing IPs out or, in Apple’s case, catering solely to the mobile gaming market via Apple Arcade. But it’s highly likely that an Electronic Arts acquisition would immediately bolster the gaming capabilities of any of the three.