American video game royalty Electronic Arts or EA once again topped a list today, but this time it is the list bidders who were interested to buy independent British video game developer Codemasters who were known for their development of motor racing game titles. EA may nearly seal the deal to purchase the ownership rights to Codemasters, now priced at an enormous amount of 1.2 billion USD.
The deal is eyed to make its closure by the first quarter of 2021. As of now, the deal is currently priced per share at 7.98 USD, which could total at 1.2 billion USD which EA has listed as of today.
UK based website Sky News first reported the company's interest on acquiring Codemasters, in which the latter was supposedly on a deal with another company in the form of Two-Take Interactive - a video game holding company known for owning both Rockstar Games and 2K, two of the most world renowned and popular game developers and publishers to date.
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EA Might Secure the Codemasters Deal
Yet somehow EA took an overturn when it barged in the bidding scene for Codemasters, and now holds the top spot to purchase and acquire the racing game developers. If this would push through somehow and no other competitors would go on to attempt to steal EA's offer (or if Two-Take might offer a much bigger deal), then the addition of Codemasters to the already established game developer and company since 1982 could potentially boost the company.
With Codemasters' premiere expertise and specialty on creating and designing racing themed games such as Grid, Dirt, and Formula One (F1) Racing video games. These are just some of the games on Codemasters' long line of games on its resume, and the experiences they already possess may be vital on further developing some EA's current titles like the renowned Need for Speed franchise of games.
EA's Established Name
Need for Speed is only one of EA's renowned game titles. They are known for publishing and developing some of the most established game titles in video game history, like "Battlefield", "The Sims," "Medal of Honor", "Command and Conquer", "Mass Effect", "Dragon Age", "Titanfall", "Army of Two", and video game adaptations of some book and movie titles such as the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises, respectively.
Yet they are more known for releasing and creating video game titles based on professional sports leagues and accolades, establishing the EA Sports name. They developed and published games such as "FIFA", "Madden NFL", "NBA Live", "NHL", and "EA Sports UFC."
Senior Analyst at marketing data firm Ampere Analysis Louise Shorthouse mentioned that EA might aim to become the world's leading publisher in the racing games industry. She also added that once the deal would be sealed eventually, it could be also an opportunity to Codemasters to reach a wider variety of audience to equate the company's "broad catalogue" and capabilities, and to maximize what they can offer more on to the video gaming industry in a global scale.
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