Disney’s Iger reportedly being pushed towards EA acquisition

Originally posted on Video Games on SI | By Marco Wutz | Last updated 10/11/23

According to a Bloomberg report, Disney CEO Bob Iger is being pressured by his deputies to make a strong push into the video games industry through a big acquisition – something like Electronic Arts (EA). Their goal is apparently to transform Disney into a gaming powerhouse in its own right and step away from being a mere licensee. Iger, so far, has not committed to such a move, the report states.

EA is certainly one of the biggest and most attractive targets for an acquisition from the options that remain on the market – that is, if Microsoft’s plans of closing the Activision Blizzard deal on Friday pan out. Disney and EA are working together on several projects at the moment, such as the Star Wars Jedi series and the Marvel’s Iron Man and Black Panther games.

Titles based on Disney IP are generally pretty popular, though, which especially goes for Star Wars. The life sim adventure game Disney Dreamlight Valley, which brings together characters from all sorts of Disney and Pixar movies, started into Early Access in 2022 and has been quite successful as well. Developer Gameloft’s title was even nominated for several awards. Previous attempts by Disney to get involved in the space more actively had mixed results – in fact, Disney retreated from those attempts exactly because the associated risks were deemed too high.

In that light, Iger’s hesitancy makes a lot of sense: Being a top dog in gaming requires tons of investment and even high-budget titles have the potential to fall flat entirely, as failures like Redfall or Marvel’s Avengers have shown. Pair that with Disney’s debt numbers and you have a good argument against such a step.

This article first appeared on Video Games on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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