"As 2025 winds down, the new biggest potential acquisitions of the year appear to be the $55 billion deal for EA by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and other investors and the more recent proposed $82 billion agreement for Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Studios. Now, a new report suggests that Netflix once considered buying EA and two other movie studios before the Warner Bros. negotiations came together."
"According to Bloomberg, Netflix executives previously debated whether the streamer should place bids for EA, Fox, and Disney. However, the management team reportedly couldn't agree on a deal and feared that its interest in those companies would hurt its standing with investors. The report doesn't include the details about when Netflix considered these acquisitions, especially since Disney is usually the company that buys other studios including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm."
"Neither the Warner Bros. nor the EA deals are guaranteed to go forward, since both of them have to win regulatory approval after facing heavy scrutiny. Both, however, have major implications for the video game industry. If the EA deal is completed, Saudi Arabia's PIF will reportedly gain majority control of the company. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren have raised their concerns about "foreign influence" on EA. In a regulatory filling last month, EA claimed it would retain creative control of the company."
Major potential 2025 deals include a $55 billion offer for EA by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and an $82 billion proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Studios by Netflix. Netflix executives debated bids for EA, Fox, and Disney but management could not agree and worried about investor reaction. Disney historically acquires studios and completed its Fox purchase in 2019. Both the EA and Warner Bros. proposals face regulatory scrutiny and are not guaranteed to close. The EA deal raises foreign influence concerns while EA asserts it would retain creative control; Netflix would gain significant gaming franchises.
Read at GameSpot
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