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EA "indifferent" to whether Microsoft Activision deal goes through

EA "indifferent" to whether Microsoft Activision deal goes through

The CEO of US publishing giant Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson, has said that the company is "indifferent" when it comes to Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard.

Speaking to investors, the chief exec was asked for his views on the deal, to which he replied that he did not know what was going to happen and it didn't really matter to EA whether the deal actually was completed or not.

Wilson added that regardless of what happens with the acquisition, Electronic Arts will still be the biggest publisher on Microsoft's games platform.

"I'm sure you recognize this is a question I get asked a lot. I almost am never allowed to answer that question as it turns out," Wilson said.

"What I would say is I don't know what's going to happen with Activision and Microsoft. Again, we continue to be Microsoft's biggest partner. I think we're the No. 1 publisher on their platform.

"So whether that deal goes through or not is not really material to us broadly. We think we have the scale, again, back to our network, our IP and our talent to continue to navigate the future and lead the future of entertainment and compete in a marketplace regardless of whether that deal goes through or not. Longer term, will there be industry consolidation? Will there be broader entertainment consolidation? If I was predicting the future over the long term, I would say that's an almost certainty at some level. I would love for us to have the scale to be a meaningful consolidator in that space.

"I think that we have tremendous assets with respect to the future of entertainment. But as it stands today, I think that we're indifferent as to whether that goes through or not. We feel like we have an incredible strategy. We feel like we have an incredible opportunity.

"And whether it goes through or not, we will continue to be the No. 1 publisher on the Microsoft platform."


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.