Amazon EA

Update 2: USA Today's original report has been updated. The publication now says GLHF, a Swedish games media company, cited "unnamed and unvetted sources", and the initial claim that Amazon would announce its purchase of EA has been removed completely. Effectively, the rumour has been reduced to nothing.

Given this update and CNBC's comments refuting the rumour, we think it's safe to say this has turned out to be a big old dud. As you were!

Update 1: Following the arrival of the below report, we've now got word to the contrary. According to CNBC and its sources, Amazon is in fact not set to acquire EA. Here's the report from CNBC itself, which has also been watching EA's stock as the rumour broke out:

So we're sort of back to square one. We'll have to wait and see what happens later today, but it's now not looking much more likely than on any other day. Again, we'll give you the latest as we learn more.

Original Story: According to a new report, Amazon will soon announce its intention to acquire Electronic Arts.

EA is an enormous publisher behind big gaming properties such as Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends, and myriad sports titles such as FIFA and Madden. Reports from earlier in the year sparked talk of the company looking to sell to a larger entity, such as Apple, Disney, or Amazon. If this scoop is accurate, it seems the latter is on the cusp of publicly confirming its offer.

The rumour comes from USA Today, reporting on word from GLHF sources. According to the report, Amazon may announce this news later today, in a matter of hours.

If true, the timing is interesting; just a few weeks ago, EA made a pretty clear statement it plans to remain independent, with CEO Andy Wilson saying the publisher is in an "incredible position". It's also worth noting EA itself made a fairly big acquisition of its own, buying up racing game specialist Codemasters. This all follows an industry-wide push for acquisition and mergers, too. Microsoft has put down billions of dollars for ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard, Sony recently completed its deal to buy Bungie, and Embracer Group continues to scoop up as many studios and IP as it can.

All that being said, this is just a rumour for now — it could still turn out to be false.

We will update you as soon as more details come to light.

[source ftw.usatoday.com]