Yesterday EA's stock saw an increase of over 4% to $19.36 after rumors circulated that Microsoft may be interested in acquiring the company. Although Microsoft later told Joystiq that they had "no plans to purchase Electronic Arts," the fact that stock prices were actually effected should indicate the real-world impact such a prospect would bring.
It's enough to send shivers down my spine.
Now I'm not necessarily opposed to company acquisitions, but as the industry continues to grow and grow and development costs continue to rise, we will probably begin to see such mergers and buyouts with increasing frequency.
Without getting into the implications of smaller (more intrinsically creative) dev houses being gobbled up after one success, the notion of one of the three major console manufacturers purchasing the second largest publisher on the planet would be -- if you'll forgive the pun -- a game changer.
We may be heading for a scenario somewhat akin to 'The Big Five' movie studios where virtually everything of significance is produced by the same five to six companies. If you think it's not possible, look at Activision and Blizzard -- two huge publishers that became one colossal publisher.
Anyway, we can rest assured knowing that these rumors were just that, rumors...right?
Allow me to paint a picture for you: Within the past year and a half or so, EA has been at the center of attention due to their expressed interest in purchasing both Rockstar and Ubisoft. Although both sales fell through, imagine for a moment that they didn't. Now EA owns the rights to one of the largest IP in existence, and (more significantly) one of the largest publishers in the business.
Suddenly, the prospect of Microsoft owning EA sounds a little different, no?
This is not just some hypothetical situation. This is happening all the time, and we gamers should be leery of this sort of thing. Video games have enjoyed relative obscurity from the forces that dominate the larger mediums of television, film, and radio, but as our beloved pass-time becomes more and more ubiquitous and culturally accepted, we may find ourselves in a situation we don't want to be in. A situation where everything is made by the same small selection of companies -- an amount of control that no one should have.
Share this article