EA recently spent more than $3 billion to acquire Glu Mobile and Codemasters, but it's not done with acquisitions just yet.
The interactive games industry is currently in a content feeding frenzy. Buyouts and acquisitions are running rampant, with acquisitions hitting $85 billion in January 2022 alone between Activision-Blizzard (acquired by Microsoft for $68.7 billion), Zynga (acquired by Take-Two for $12.7 billion), and Bungie (acquired by Sony for $3.6 billion). Gaming's biggest companies are getting snapped up left and right.
Electronic Arts is one such company that could either be a builder or consolidator. The publisher is currently open to new acquisitions and will be "looking at everything," EA CFO Blake Jorgensen says.
In a recent Q3'22 earnings call, EA comments on future acquisitions. Right now the publisher is in "digest mode," meaning it's trying to manage and use the companies it already has, but future buyouts aren't off the table.
"We're always trying to find ways to grow the portfolio year-over-year with new titles, new IP, and new acquisitions," Jorgensen said in the earnings call.
"Right now we're in digest mode but it doesn't mean we won't keep looking at everything going forward."
EA CEO Andrew Wilson had a longer comment on possible acquisitions, but more so in relation to building new content. When asked if EA was building or consolidating, EA basically said it wanted to build instead of buy.
- "This UGC content is really just an extension of the social interaction that I'm able to have with my friends in and around experiencing this entertainment. I believe that's going to be a really important part of our future," Wilson said.
- "The extent of whether we want to build that out or buy over time...right now we are building, we're building technology, we're building creators, we're building assets and we're handing that out to communities around the world and we're seeing great uptake of that.
- "If there was an acquisition opportunity in the future, we would openly look at that, but we're not looking at that at this juncture."
Check below for a list of the top gaming acquisitions made to date: