Amidst the growing merger and acquisition activity in the gaming industry a la Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, a few of Disney's senior executives want the company to dip their toes in an M&A with a gaming giant like Electronic Arts. Based on Bloomberg's recent report, Disney is facing significant losses due to their multiple box office flops. While the CEO, Bob Iger, feels "overwhelmed and frustrated" over the failures, the company's executive indulging in a merger and becoming a gaming giant might benefit Disney.
While the executives are driving Iger to acquire major gaming industry giants, they have shown a significant interest in Electronic Arts. Bob Iger showed no interest in the executive's option of acquiring the industry's big names. While Bob played a crucial role in famous Marvel Entertainment and Pixar acquisitions, he won't be taking the same route with gaming publisher acquisitions.
Read More: John Riccitiello Steps Down As Unity CEO, Weeks After Runtime Fee Controversy
Disney's Senior Executive Shows Interest In Acquiring Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts has been in the gaming industry for more than four decades and has consolidated its position as one of the prominent gaming publishers. With their hands across various gaming genres like first-person shooters, role-playing games, and sporting games like FIFA, the publisher has a large player base. EA has shown interest in several esports titles like EA Sports FC (previously FIFA), Madden NFL Series and Apex Legends, which will feature a $5 million in the upcoming season.
Despite having a mixed reaction from its fans, Electronic Arts has been one of the most profitable publishers thanks to its games sales, microtransactions, and live and esports events. While talking about their position in the industry, here is what Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, said during last summer's earnings call:
I think we're growing across platforms, we're growing across business models, and we're growing across geographies. And in a world where gaming is becoming more important to the lives of Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who will be the leading generation in terms of consumption, entertainment for the future, I don't think we could be in a stronger position as a standalone company.
With their strong stance in the industry, Electronic Arts launched EA Originals to support small teams and independent developers and help them bring their games to life. EA provides financial resources, mentorship, and publishing support so developers can focus on their games, while EA looks after the distributions. EA Originals has been a successful altruistic endeavour with popular titles like Unravel, A Way Out and Sea of Solitude. With EA Originals, Electronic Arts supports the gaming industry on a broader scale, with an opportunity to diversify its portfolio.