Speculation Grows On Disney Acquiring EA

Leave a Comment Posted January 7, 2009 - By r_pad

With its stock continuing to slump, numerous analysts have claimed that publishing giant Electronic Arts (EA) is there for the taking. Of course, it would take a large company to pull off such a feat. One of the more interesting rumors circulating is that The Wall Disney Company is interested in purchasing EA. Variety's Ben Fritz adds his thoughts to the speculation:

"When you think about it, it makes some sense. Disney has been investing heavily in videogames these past few years. And while its stock is down (31% off its 52-week high), EA stock is way down (67% from its 52-week high), which means buying EA could be a potent way for Disney to jumpstart itself to a lead position in this still relatively fast growing space."

While I have no idea if Disney will acquire EA, I believe it's only a matter of time before something like this happens. More and more large companies are realizing that gaming can be an extremely profitable form of media. A company like Disney could exploit its movie and music properties much more efficiently with an in-house publisher than relying on external publishers. However, it requires a pretty big committment to make it work properly -- the efforts of Disney Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive are really just scratching the surface. Snatching up a large publisher with an established history (like EA) would really shake up the industry. EA's current stock price makes the committment more feasible.

Now, I know a lot of you have beef with EA, but would you think of the company differently if it went to Disney? Would sticking Mickey Mouse ears on EA make it more charming? Or would it just be part of a larger machine to you?

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Tags: Videogames