EA’s CEO thinks Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision is “a great thing” for the games industry
The CEO of Electronic Arts (EA), Andrew Wilson, has spoken out about Microsoft’s completed acquisition of Activision Blizzard and has revealed that he thinks it’s “a great thing” for the games industry overall.
Spotted by VGC, in an interview with CNBC, Wilson was asked about the buyout and whether or not he considers that EA could be a potential target for acquisition, too. Although he didn’t answer the latter question, he was open in talking about his optimism for the industry following the deal.
“I think that Microsoft-Activision is a great thing,” he said. “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.”
Otherwise, he noted that EA feels “really good about the industry”, making reference to a report from MIDiA Research (covered earlier this week by GamesIndustry.biz) that suggested that the industry is expected to hit over $300 billion in global revenue and reach around 3.8 billion active players by 2030.
“When you think about us, the incredible talent that we have, the world-class IP that we have, the technology that we have, and a community of 700 million players — well on its way to a billion or more — we think we’re really well positioned and benefit disproportionately from that future.”
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision was officially closed last month, 20 months after it was first announced. This only came after the UK’s regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), gave its approval to an amended version of the deal, which will see Microsoft sell the cloud streaming rights for new and current Activision games to Ubisoft. The CMA blocked the initial deal over concerns that it could harm competition in cloud
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