Disney Reportedly Has Interest in Purchasing Electronic Arts

A new report has claimed that The Walt Disney Company has a potential interest in purchasing video game publisher Electronic Arts. In recent years, EA and Disney have worked somewhat closely with one another, primarily thanks to Star Wars, which EA at one point had the exclusive rights to develop games based on the property. And although this is no longer the case, it sounds like Disney may now be looking to get more heavily involved with games by proxy of buying EA. 

According to Bloomberg, those close to Disney CEO Bob Iger are pushing for a "transformation" of the company. In this pursuit, it has been suggested that Disney become more entrenched in the video game industry, which it currently doesn't have much of a direct involvement with. To do this, some are said to be suggesting that Iger look to buy Electronic Arts, which would give Disney a stronger foothold in the gaming market than ever before. Iger himself is said to be "noncommittal" about the idea, though, which makes it sound like he isn't fully on board with this plan. 

So just how likely is it that Disney would actually buy Electronic Arts? Well, it's hard to say. As we've seen over the past decade, acquisitions have become somewhat common and billions of dollars have changed hands as companies like Activision, Bethesda, Bungie, Oculus, and Zynga have all been snatched up. Consolidation in the gaming industry doesn't seem like it's going to slow down any time soon, either, which means that a company like Electronic Arts would probably sell for the right price. Even though Disney has had a rough go of things lately, it also surely has the cash on hand to buy EA if it decides that it wanted to. 

What Other Gaming Publishers Could Disney Acquire?

Given their working history, Electronic Arts is definitely the company most likely to be bought by Disney. EA also has quite a diverse catalog between its sports properties like FIFA and Madden, its multiplayer titles with Apex Legends and Battlefield, and its acclaimed single-player projects with Dead Space and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Even though EA has received flak from many in the past, it's a well-rounded publisher that has a lot going on right at the moment. 

Outside of EA, the other biggest publishers in the video game industry that are still independent include Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft. Take-Two is the more valuable of the two companies here, primarily because it owns the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which continues to rake in tons of money annually. Ubisoft has also been a successful publisher in the past, although it has also struggled to find its footing in recent years.

In Japan, there are a number of other publishers such as Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Square Enix that could be potential acquisition targets. That being said, Japanese companies are often seen as more difficult to acquire due to a number of restrictions in place that prevent foreign corporations from acquiring them outright. With this in mind, it's unlikely that Disney would ever try to buy a Japanese publisher if it ever decided to dive deeper into the video game market.