Rumor: Microsoft Could Be Looking To Acquire Electronic Arts

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There’s no question that Microsoft was hurting last year with its Xbox One business. True, it did well enough between Forza Motorsport 7, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and the Xbox One X, but it also had some rough points, with the cancellation of games like Fable Legends and Scalebound, as well as the delay of its would-be holiday hit Crackdown 3.

So now it’s trying to bounce back, and there are rumors making the rounds that it could be trying to make some key acquisitions to gain some “oomph” back in the industry, just as it did years ago acquiring the best-selling Minecraft series, along with its respective studio, Mojang. But an interesting name has come up from this, as the company might be looking into acquiring Electronic Arts.

Polygon first reported the rumor, indicating that, according to a source, the acquisition could happen pretty soon. Other names have been passed around as well, including Valve, the creators of such games as Portal and Left 4 Dead (as well as Half-Life), and PUBG Corp., the Korean outfit responsible for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. That last one seems pretty likely as well, mainly because the companies are getting along so well with the release of the Xbox One version last year.

SuperDataResearch CEO Joost van Dreunen explained to Polygon, “Because of where we are in the lifecycle of all these things, I’m expecting to hear Microsoft announce something very, very shortly.”

The company has already promised a pretty big line-up for 2018, between Crackdown 3 and Sea of Thieves leading the charge, as well as some potential big hits for the rest of the year, including a new Fable, a new Forza Horizon and the possible return of Perfect Dark. But a key acquisition, especially with someone as big as EA, could mean big business for the company down the road. The real question is, if they in fact did buy the company, what would it mean for future EA game releases on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and other platforms? (More than likely, Microsoft would probably continue letting EA operate day-to-day, just as it did with Mojang and Minecraft – that game ended up on other platforms with ease.)

This is all rumor, of course, but Microsoft has been making some inside moves as of late to bolster its video game business, and an acquisition or two would easily top this off and give it a much-needed push for the new year. We’ll see what goes down over the next few months.

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Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/01/29/microsoft-looking-to-acquire-electronic-arts-ea/

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EternityPosted:

Mario350 ea wouldnt accept the offer as ea has their own thing called origins and if they accept the offer there will be no ea games on pc ps4 and switch so its not going to be true and its a rumor not truth as again ea has their own stuff to publish to which wouldnt work because you know how business works, is this the same one with valve as pc gamer posted saying the same thing with valve and ea in one post again valve has their own platform called pc(steam) well ea is multi platform so it wouldnt work out, unless phil is doing what vinvendi or whatever their called and do a hostel take over on them then thats a different story, but remember rumors are 5% truth 95% lies


This is just silly. Minecraft is on other platforms besides Xbox. Did you see those other versions disappear when Microsoft bought Mojang and Minecraft? No.

If they even bought EA, there would be no reason for them to stop launching products on other platforms. Rather, there would likely be more Microsoft + EA games that are Xbox & PC exclusive *in addition* to the existing multi-platform franchises that EA has. From a business standpoint, not launching on PC and PS4 would mean less profits.

Plus, they could absorb EA's Origin into the existing Xbox store or extend the Xbox store. It could be a rather simple rebranding, just like how Twitch bought Curse and rebranded the Curse client to the Twitch client. They would unify account systems and permissions and voila, one big(ger) store.

ProJimmyRustlerPosted:

Mario350 ea wouldnt accept the offer as ea has their own thing called origins and if they accept the offer there will be no ea games on pc ps4 and switch so its not going to be true and its a rumor not truth as again ea has their own stuff to publish to which wouldnt work because you know how business works, is this the same one with valve as pc gamer posted saying the same thing with valve and ea in one post again valve has their own platform called pc(steam) well ea is multi platform so it wouldnt work out, unless phil is doing what vinvendi or whatever their called and do a hostel take over on them then thats a different story, but remember rumors are 5% truth 95% lies


Just because they acquire EA doesn't mean they would stop supporting other systems. That would be stupid. Origins could be an issue, however MS might want to acquire origins to improve the microsoft store.

Mario350Posted:

ea wouldnt accept the offer as ea has their own thing called origins and if they accept the offer there will be no ea games on pc ps4 and switch so its not going to be true and its a rumor not truth as again ea has their own stuff to publish to which wouldnt work because you know how business works, is this the same one with valve as pc gamer posted saying the same thing with valve and ea in one post again valve has their own platform called pc(steam) well ea is multi platform so it wouldnt work out, unless phil is doing what vinvendi or whatever their called and do a hostel take over on them then thats a different story, but remember rumors are 5% truth 95% lies

FamousPosted:

Microsoft playing the field very smart. :)

EthanPosted:

So EA can finally make some good games then? And not pump out fifa 15,16,17 all in which are the same damn game?!?!?!?!

TuskPosted:

Maze And then they don't release games on PS4 until they agree to cross console play.

I hope they add cross platform. It's possible to do it so why not!

MazePosted:

And then they don't release games on PS4 until they agree to cross console play.

ZydrinPosted:

If this is the case, they could truly make a huge change to that company and truly improve it for the better. That would also mean they would have a lot more games for them to further develop and work on.

DragonPosted:

I think Microsoft could make substantial positive changes to EA. I believe it would be a win-win for both companies. Would like to see how this turns out.

ProJimmyRustlerPosted:

Financially Microsoft could do this and not even feel it. In 2017 Microsoft was valued at around 507 billion and EA was valued at around 54 billion. I don't think this would help with Microsoft's image, unless they plan to completely revamp EAs Microtransaction issues.

I also see this being a weak move for Microsoft, because instead of coming up with new games, they are just buying out a company to compensate.