Amazon reportedly made an offer to acquire Electronic Arts (EA), the U.S. video game business responsible for the immensely popular FIFA series.
Friday, according to the Stockholm-based gaming content agency GLHF, Amazon will announce its intention to acquire the gaming company.
Since the spring, rumors have surfaced that EA is seeking to be acquired by a huge firm, such as Disney, Apple, or Amazon.
The rumored acquisition was first reported by USA Today, which quoted GLHF as saying, “Amazon has finally made an offer.”
Following its acquisition of live streaming rights for the NFL and Premier League on the Prime platform, such a purchase may expand Amazon’s sports effort.
Amazon already owns the live-streaming video game portal Twitch, which hosts live sporting events.
CNBC, indicating that Amazon has not made such an offer, debunked the rumor of a bid.
Friday on air, CNBC analyst and journalist David Faber stated, “I’ve talked to several people who would know if something was happening, and they say nothing is happening.”
‘EA has probably been a little out there in the past, at least in terms of thinking about what it might accomplish. You can envision Amazon having some kind of interest. ‘However, this will not take place today.’
EA responded, “We do not comment on mergers and acquisitions-related rumors and conjecture.”
In premarket trading, EA shares rose 15% in response to the USA Today news on Amazon’s rumored takeover bid, but they later declined.
Since the first FIFA game, FIFA International Soccer, was published in 1993, EA’s FIFA football franchise has sold more than 325 million units.
Due to an official agreement with FIFA, EA’s FIFA video games have been released annually for nearly three decades.
However, in May it was reported that the collaboration would expire the following year, which means that this year’s iteration of FIFA will be the last.
EA will continue to release its football series, branded EA Sports FC, while FIFA is rumored to be in talks with a new developer.
After months of difficult negotiations, FIFA officials reportedly wanted $1 billion from EA for its licensing rights.
The final FIFA game, FIFA 23, will be published on September 30 and will include women’s club football for the first time.
Trip Hawkins, an Apple employee, created Electronic Arts in Redwood City, California in May 1982.
Since then, it has generated many video game franchises that have sold millions of copies, including The Sims, Medal of Honor, Apex Legends, and FIFA.
Nonetheless, the worldwide gaming sector is reportedly struggling as the demand boom observed during the height of the pandemic subsides.
After releasing quarterly results earlier this month, EA’s chief financial officer Chris Suh stated that the company was not “totally immune” to recession.
Suh stated, “There are portions of the business that I believe is performing better and portions of the business that are possibly performing a bit worse than we anticipated even a few months ago.
Under its new CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon has embarked on an acquisition spree to expand its company beyond online retail and cloud storage.
Recent offers from the company include $1.7 billion for Roomba manufacturer iRobot Corp and $3.5 billion for primary care provider One Medical.
Amazon has also acquired MGM studios, the producers of the “Rocky” and “James Bond” film franchises, for $8 billion.
Microsoft also acquired EA competitor and ‘Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion earlier this year.
