Electronic Arts “More Interested Than Ever” in Acquisitions of Talented Studios

Today, during Electronic Arts’ quarterly financial conference call for analysts and investors, chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen talked about possible acquisitions.

Asked about the current stance of the company regarding acquisitions of new studios (the question mentioned as an example a “big asset” currently for sale likely hinting to Warner Bros.’ gaming division, but the answer did not directly acknowledge the hint), Jorgensen brought up the acquisition of Respawn as an example of what Electronic Arts usually does. 

According to the executive, the best acquisitions in EA’s history are those born from long-term relationships with a studio. What they try to do is to “buy great talent versus games.”

According to Jorgensen, that acquisition wasn’t about Titanfall, but about the talent of the team. 

“We were able to bring them into the fold, give them incredible support, and it was all driven by the fact that they had incredible talent. It wasn’t about Titanfall.

That’s no offense to Titanfall. That’s an amazing game and, you know, will we see a Titanfall at some point, at some time down the road? But it was really about the team.

We also hear that the publisher is “more interested than ever” in acquisitions.

We’re always looking at that. We’ll always continue to look at that. We hope we can find more. 

[…]

It might take some time, but trust that we’re more interested than ever, because we see that talent and buolding great new franchises is critical to the long-term business.”

Jorgensen also mentioned that while he can’t comment on specific cases, EA gets to “take a look at almost everything” that is for sale.

If you’d like to learn more about Electronic Arts’ financial performance during the past quarter, you can read our dedicated article with plenty of info.