EA reportedly tried to sell itself to Apple
EA has reportedly been seeking out a merger and Apple was a potential suitor, a report about Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' attempt to merge NBC with the game publisher reveals.
Apple has a long history of making acquisitions, partly to bolster its employee and knowledge base, partly to quickly shift into new markets. In a Friday report, it is claimed that there were at least discussions of a potential purchase of Electronic Arts.
In a piece discussing how Comcast CEO Brian Roberts attempted to court EA CEO Andrew Wilson for a potential merger of EA and NBCUniversal, sources say other talks also took place.
Sources of Puck claim Wilson and EA have talked to "a number of potential suitors" for a sale over the last few years. The suitors included Apple, as well as Disney and Amazon.
It is said that EA has been keen to pursue a sale, and with the numerous acquisitions at the start of 2022, the game publisher became "more emboldened" to achieve its goal. Those tie-ups include Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of "Destiny" game studio Bungie, Take-Two Interactive's $12.7 billion purchase of Zynga, and Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard.
As part of the negotiations, sources say that EA is keen to be part of a merger that "would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company."
Apple, Amazon, and Disney all declined to comment on the story.
While Apple has gradually moved into gaming, such as by its Apple Arcade subscription, it seems unlikely that it would go for such an acquisition. Apple doesn't tend to make acquisitions at such huge scales, with the most notable exception being the $3 billion Beats Music and Beats Electronics purchase in 2014.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple has a long history of making acquisitions, partly to bolster its employee and knowledge base, partly to quickly shift into new markets. In a Friday report, it is claimed that there were at least discussions of a potential purchase of Electronic Arts.
In a piece discussing how Comcast CEO Brian Roberts attempted to court EA CEO Andrew Wilson for a potential merger of EA and NBCUniversal, sources say other talks also took place.
Sources of Puck claim Wilson and EA have talked to "a number of potential suitors" for a sale over the last few years. The suitors included Apple, as well as Disney and Amazon.
It is said that EA has been keen to pursue a sale, and with the numerous acquisitions at the start of 2022, the game publisher became "more emboldened" to achieve its goal. Those tie-ups include Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of "Destiny" game studio Bungie, Take-Two Interactive's $12.7 billion purchase of Zynga, and Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard.
As part of the negotiations, sources say that EA is keen to be part of a merger that "would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company."
Apple, Amazon, and Disney all declined to comment on the story.
While Apple has gradually moved into gaming, such as by its Apple Arcade subscription, it seems unlikely that it would go for such an acquisition. Apple doesn't tend to make acquisitions at such huge scales, with the most notable exception being the $3 billion Beats Music and Beats Electronics purchase in 2014.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Umm…. Really? Think Amazon, Apple or Disney would even consider such a thing? Dude sounds like he’s on an ego trip
Market cap of EA is $36B. So they were probably asking $50B.
This only makes it a better deal. This would mean Apple could port the 80% of games that aren’t on Mac and cause a snowball effect.
If EA was a Mac exclusive developer, what would Apple gain?
I’m not suggesting it would be a good acquisition, just saying this is a good reason.
With that said, it’s long overdue Apple acquire a game studio. Doesn’t even have to be a multi-billion dollar one. Acquire a small indie studio, Apple has the funds to develop all their ideas.
https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000712515/7205ec00-ad63-4913-a8b5-7dfed24158cf.pdf
A $36b market cap seems reasonable vs their earnings and assets but it would be hard to justify more and they are heavily dependent on recurring revenue from legacy (and cross-platform) titles.
Apple is obviously courted due to deep pockets and would be a much easier ride. They couldn't give them the Apple CEO position but they could have an SVP of games or run it as a subsidiary. Phil Spencer is CEO of Microsoft Games, which is a subsidiary of Microsoft.
They would get a game engine (Frostbite - https://www.ea.com/frostbite/engine )) but there are reports EA will use Unreal Engine 5 for some upcoming titles like Mass Effect and The Sims. This would create a dependence on Epic who has a lawsuit against Apple.
Smaller purchases would probably be more suited to Apple's gaming aspirations. Ubisoft is only valued around $6b and they can deliver similar quality to EA. They also have a game engine Dunia, forked from CryEngine and SnowDrop Engine.
These companies make a lot of revenue from shooting games. With Apple Arcade content, they tend to go more for family-friendly games. They might be able to commission exclusive games like the console manufacturers. That way they can get exclusives for multiple franchises. $200m for an exclusive would get them 180 exclusive titles for the equivalent of buying EA for $36b.
Then a lot of work had to go into making Halo work on the Xbox that would launch 2 years later. How much as the Halo franchise taken in? It's almost as if reworking a great game concept for their platform was financially viable for them.
F1
Dragon Age
Fifa
Need for Speed
Titanfall
Battlefield
Command and Conquer
Dead Space
Numerous Star Wars games
Etc etc etc
its a treasure trove.
Also, I don't think the M2 would do something in the gaming market. The switch is evidence that you don't need the most powerful device to win in the gaming market. If Apple decide to enter the gaming market, will it compete with Nintendo or MS / Sony?
And here is another issue, upgradability. Will Apple allow gamers to upgrade their devices? One of the things PC gamers value is upgradability, and Apple is terrible at this.
My point is that acquiring / merging with EA would be one of many things Apple need to do enter the gaming market.
In fact, the industry is already looking beyond mobile games operating locally on the device.
Let's imagine one day that someone could download a cloud gaming app (for fun, let's pretend that it's called GeForce NOW) onto a smart TV or their smartphone, pair a gamepad via Bluetooth, and play some of the most popular videogames on a 60"+ OLED display. When do you think that moment would come? Next year? Ten years from now? Last year?
It's not about acquiring PC game IP and porting them to macOS.
And let's not forget that more people play videogames on consoles than computers. A hybrid portable/console called Nintendo Switch has sold over 110 million units. The console gaming industry has dwarfed the PC gaming industry for over three decades. How many people were playing videogames on PCs in 1993 versus Super NES?
For a while I thought that videogame consoles might make a brief interim appearance as plug-in devices like a Roku Streaming Stick. Now I'm not even sure of that. At some point, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo may just end up being apps on your phone.
Quarter after quarter when their fiscal results are announced, smarter people keep a close eye on GM.
One thing we know about the Apple VR headset. It won't come with a 5-10% GM. Neither will the Apple Car.
More pertinently Microsoft are estimated to have paid $20-40m for Bungie. That's million. A completely different scale from what EA would cost, chump change for Microsoft
Obviously Apple wouldn't have been interested in EA.