Disney has mostly focused on licensing out its popular IP for studios to use in game development over the last decade. However, a new report shows that executives at the media powerhouse want the company to become a “gaming giant” too, potentially through a major acquisition of Electronic Arts.
According to a Bloomberg article examining the current state of Disney under CEO Bob Iger’s second turn in the position, there has been internal pressure from several senior executives to “consider a bolder transformation” of the company’s gaming business. EA was listed as one potential acquisition target in that report, but it appears Iger is remaining “noncommital” to any larger deal.
This is not the first time Disney has been mentioned as being an interested party in a potential EA acquisition or merger, with reports from May 2022 mentioning EA CEO Andrew Wilson talking to Disney about a “more meaningful relationship” than previous licensing deals. Apple, Amazon, and other large media companies were also listed in those reports, but Wilson later spoke out against the idea last August and things have quieted down on that front for EA since.
Now that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is closing in on its finalization, talks about big mergers are hot again—and a deal for EA would make a lot of sense for Disney.
With the closure of Disney Interactive Studios in 2016, Disney almost exclusively began working with external partners to create games based on its IP. EA was already one of the company’s closest partners in the games industry, and that has continued despite Disney deciding to end EA’s exclusive hold over major Star Wars titles in January 2021.
The success of Respawn’s Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor looks to have spawned a third title and EA already has two additional Star Wars titles in the works alongside Iron Man and Black Panther projects from Motive Studios and Cliffhanger Games, respectively. That is just through a licensing deal, so it is easy to see why a potential buyout is on the mind of some executives close to Iger.
There is also the sports angle to consider, as EA makes two of the most popular titles in that genre, EA Sports FC and Madden, which could lead to broader integrations with Disney’s ESPN brand.
A deal like this also wouldn’t limit Disney’s ability to continue partnerships with other developers like Sony’s Insomniac for its Spider-Man franchise, and would let EA continue developing for all platforms. So even if a deal is unlikely at this time, this would be the type of acquisition to keep an eye out for if Disney does make a play to bring game development in-house.
