According to a report by Puck, NBCUniversal was reportedly negotiating to acquire EA, but the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement and the deal didn’t go through. NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast, an American telecommunications conglomerate. Comcast is the world’s largest broadcasting company by revenue and the largest home internet provider in the US. It owns multiple companies, TV channels, and animation studios like DreamWorks and Illumination.
The deal that was being negotiated reportedly had current EA CEO Andrew Wilson continuing to run EA, but with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts managing the joint company. The negotiation apparently went on for multiple weeks as company representatives discussed exactly how the merger was to take place. It’s reported that the nail in the merger’s coffin was the inability to agree on the price of the acquisition, as well as how the merged company would be structured.
EA has reportedly talked to multiple companies about being acquired, including Disney, Apple, and Amazon. According to the report, it might be Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard that has awakened EA’s interest in an acquisition.
NBCUniversal once had its own games development studio, but closed it within 3 years.
About the Author
Edie W-K
she/her
If it isn't video games, Edie doesn't care about it. She's been playing games since the N64 era, and only spent enough time away from her 3DS to earn a Bachelor in Games Design from RMIT.
