According to a source close to Microsoft and Polygon, Microsoft is considering acquiring Electronic Arts. In addition to EA, a few other names have been thrown around, like Valve and PUBG Corp.
Polygon did not site the source, however, they did call them reliable.
Supposing Microsoft was looking into purchasing studios, which they’ve expressed interest in, how likely are these acquisitions?
When it comes to EA, the company saw a dip in their stock with the Star Wars Battlefront 2 debacle, but the chart went right back up to being the highest that EA has seen. The stock did drop recently, due to rumors of a delay for Anthem. EA is likely flying too high for Microsoft right now and the cost (roughly over $36 billion) might not outweigh the benefit – especially when making EA’s games Xbox exclusives would slash annual revenue. Microsoft could go the Minecraft route and continue to make games accessible across platforms, however, with an acquisition that big, there would have to be some kind of benefit for their platform – like timed exclusives for a year. On top of that, EA might not be looking to sell out anytime soon.
What could be the case with this is Microsoft striking a partnership deal with the company, which would bring exclusive DLC, access and items to EA games on an Xbox platform. In addition to that, Microsoft might be poking around EA to get them to commit to putting their new games on Xbox Game Pass the day they release, as Xbox exclusives will be doing.
As for Valve, well, it’s Valve. No. They aren’t failing, they aren’t looking for money and they don’t need Microsoft.
PUBG Corp. is the most likely candidate for acquisition out of all the rumored companies. Currently, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has seen great success in the expansion to Xbox from the PC. The jump to Xbox One has been held back by one thing, PUBG’s optimization for Xbox.
Microsoft purchasing this game, whose opportunity for success can be measured by its enormous impression on PC, would see the title stay an Xbox exclusive and would see more Xbox familiar developers working on it.
