EA believes that it will benefit from Activision Blizzard's acquisition

by Danny Craig ·

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson believes Microsoft's recent acquisition of rival publisher Activision Blizzard will benefit the company overall.

The details:

Wilson was asked for his thoughts on the acquisition after its completion in a recent interview with CNBC, and he responded that it was "a great thing" as it means more investment in the industry, which will benefit everyone. “I think that Microsoft-Activision is a great thing,” said the executive. “It means that one of the world’s largest companies is going to continue to invest in our industry, to help us grow the industry over time.”
The CEO was also asked if he felt that EA was a target for a future acquisition, to which he did not directly respond, instead stating that EA was not ruling out the possibility of acquiring new studios itself. “As we think about our position, as an independent developer and publisher of the world’s leading interactive entertainment content, we feel really good about our opportunity,” said Wilson. “And to the extent that there are opportunities for us to be inquisitive, we would of course look at those, where it might add new IP or add new teams, or add new technology, or it might add to our ability to grow the amount of people in our network, and grow the engagement that they have in our network.”
Wilson's stance on the Activision acquisition appears to have shifted from May, when he stated that he was "indifferent" to whether or not the deal was successful and that he believed EA would still be Xbox's number one publisher, implying that it would have little impact on EA.

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