EA dances around the possibility of an acquisition

gamesradar.com:

EA's CEO has commented on acquisition rumors surrounding the company.

Yesterday on August 2, EA held a first quarter financial earnings call, in which CEO Andrew Wilson fielded questions from investors. As first reported by IGN (opens in new tab), when asked about a potential acquisition of EA, the CEO answered that he didn't think the EA could "be in a stronger position as a standalone company."

"Our... objective is always to take care of our people, our players, and our shareholders," Wilson continued. "Should there ever be a way for us to do that differently than the way we're doing it today, I of course have to be open to that, but I would tell you today we feel very very confident and excited for our future," the CEO concluded on the matter.

Wilson's comments are interesting in the context of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which first kicked off back in January earlier this year. When the deal goes through (if it even gets past regulators at all), it'll officially make EA the largest standalone company without a parent corporation in the entire games industry.

Hence why there's been speculation on the possibility of EA being acquired by a larger company, like Microsoft or Sony. In fact, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick revealed earlier this year in January that the company had actually considered a merger with EA, prior to Microsoft's offer of an acquisition. EA is remaining independent for now, but it's clearly open to inciting offers. 

As recently as April earlier this year, Sony said it had "more studio acquisitions planned" in the future.