Disney‘s bosses are reportedly urging its CEO Bob Iger to make a splash in the video game business, starting with a major acquisition such as Electronic Arts. An acquisition of EA has been rumored for a while following reports of interest from a number of companies but EA has previously dismissed suggestions of a sale.
Why an Electronic Arts acquisition makes sense to Disney’s executives
Disney and EA have been working for a while, with the former licensing its properties to the publisher. EA exclusively held the Star Wars license for a decade before Disney opened up the franchise to other developers. Nevertheless, EA continues to make successful Star Wars games with Respawn Entertainment at the helm.
According to Bloomberg, Iger’s deputies want him to transition Disney from being a gaming licensee to a “gaming giant,” developing and publishing its own games. However, Iger is reportedly “noncommittal.” The report mostly revolves around Iger losing his touch, much to the frustration of Disney’s executives. But this tidbit about EA stood out to the gaming community already split over an increase in mergers and acquisitions, many of which haven’t gone well.
It was previously reported that EA itself was pursuing a sale at one point, but dropped those plans.
