Disney executives want Bob Iger to buy EA or another large gaming company

[Daniel Sims]

The big picture: Despite having licensed its characters to numerous game developers for decades, Disney has never enjoyed a position in that market anywhere near its dominance in film and TV. A recent report suggests some at the company want to change this, but nothing currently indicates Disney is pivoting away from its ongoing agreements with third parties.

Bloomberg reports that Disney CEO Bob Iger's deputies are trying to convince him to turn the company into a major game publisher, perhaps by acquiring EA or a similarly-sized gaming company. Iger hasn't indicated any commitment to the issue so far.

Disney's major acquisitions of companies like Marvel and Lucasfilm have proven successful. Aside from movies that make billions of dollars, the catalogs from those companies and 21st Century Fox have given Disney a strong position in the streaming wars.

So, it isn't surprising that executives believe they can establish a similar beachhead in the gaming market, and its close licensing partnership with Disney makes EA a prime candidate for a video game acquisition. Such a buyout would tremendously impact its position in the sector.

The publisher has released multiple blockbuster Star Wars titles in recent years, including this year's Jedi: Survivor. The game's developer, Respawn Entertainment, has two more Star Wars titles in development – a first-person shooter and a strategy game.

Furthermore, other EA studios have three Marvel-themed games in the works. Star Wars: Squadrons developer EA Motive is making an Iron Man title with the senior producer of Square Enix and Eidos Montreal's well-received Guardians of the Galaxy game. The second is a Black Panther game, with Middle-earth: Shadow of War veteran Keven Stephens heading production. The third Marvel project remains unannounced.

Another reason an EA acquisition isn't entirely out of the question is that the $35 billion company was reportedly shopping for a buyer last year. Rumors suggested EA entered talks with tech and media giants like Disney, Amazon, and Apple and nearly merged with NBCUniversal. It's unclear how receptive it would be to a Disney acquisition today.

However, EA is far from the only publisher releasing major titles using Disney properties. Sony and Insomniac will release their third Spider-Man title this month, and Insomniac is developing a Wolverine game. Additionally, Microsoft-owned MachineGames is preparing an Indiana Jones title with Lucasfilm Games, and Ubisoft recently unveiled its open-world Star Wars Outlaws.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100460-disney-executives-want-bob-iger-buy-ea-or.html

 

[toooooot]

EA has a very similar culture, they would be a perfect fit.

 

[RandomWAN]

"Disney's major acquisitions of companies like Marvel and Lucasfilm have proven successful."

They're still billions down on Star Wars after that purchase price. It sounds successful, but it hasn't reached profitability yet and will continue to not make money as long as people like Kathleen Kennedy are at the helm of Lucasfilm.

Given all their entertainment properties are dropping in profitability and viewership (it's obvious despite their efforts to downplay), buying something like EA would not be a smart move and would just be repeating the cycle of trying to stave off the failing vector of the business instead of addressing the underlying problems.

 

[LetTheWookieWin]

Please, no. Disney destroys everything they touch. Granted EA isn’t perfect by any stretch… but please no.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Star Wars 1313 looked promising, then Disney acquired Star Wars and they put a kibosh on Lucasfilm Games from making/developing games and then they shuttered that aspect of the company in 2013. It wasn't until 2021 that the decision to resurrect Lucasfilm Games game around.

When Disney closed down the Star Wars gaming division after acquiring Star Wars the game making aspect of it went to EA and boy oh boy did they ever screw the pooch with that decision. Look at the crappy Star Wars games that EA put out between 2013 and now. EA was so bad at making Star Wars games that they couldn't even make one with an original name to it when they released Star Wars Battlefront in 2014. Star Wars Battlefront, the first one appeared back in 2004.....and the original was so much better over the new version....remake....remaster? I'm not even sure what it was supposed to be, but it sucked and still does.

Then the failure with their "Battlefront II" (let us not forget the awful use of loot boxes)
Then crappy Jedi Fallen Order
Followed by a mediocre Squadrons
And finally Jedi Survivor that's been received about as well as Fallen Order.

Disney has been pretty good at demolishing great IPs that they've brought under their umbrella in the past 10 years or so. It also doesn't help that they've been pandering to the "woke" crowd and doing their best to alienate what made their products so good in the past.

Oh well. I haven't really enjoyed anything Marvel related since the release of Spiderman: Homecoming and the only two Star Wars related movies/shows I've actually enjoyed since Disney stuck their grubby paws into the franchise was Rogue One and Andor, everything else was bad. I'd rather watch and listen to Jar-Jar do all the voices for everyone in The Phantom Menace over watching any of the other gawd awful Star Wars movies or shows (aside from Rogue One and Andor) that Disney created.

 

[RudyBob]

Only if Walt was in charge. Who need woke games? Not the woke, not the anti-woke. It'll be indoctrination time

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Given how they have destroyed lucasarts, are trying their darnedest on marvel and pixar.....you know what? Sure, go for it. Take ubisoft too while you're at it. Lets obliterate the publisher mafia!

With activision going to microsfaht the only oddball left is 2k. who would buy that sludge pile?

"Disney's major acquisitions of companies like Marvel and Lucasfilm have proven successful."

They're still billions down on Star Wars after that purchase price. It sounds successful, but it hasn't reached profitability yet and will continue to not make money as long as people like Kathleen Kennedy are at the helm of Lucasfilm.

Given all their entertainment properties are dropping in profitability and viewership (it's obvious despite their efforts to downplay), buying something like EA would not be a smart move and would just be repeating the cycle of trying to stave off the failing vector of the business instead of addressing the underlying problems.

BuT tHeY mAdE tWo BiLlIoN oN ePiSoDe SeVeN!

They actual losses from solo (disney claims $65 million loss, real life closer to $400 million) likely obliterated more then half their movie income. Using hollywood math, I believe all their cinematic released have made a total of ~300 million. Far from the $4 billion they paid. Not counting tanking merch sales of course.

Ashoka: the snore files is rumored to have cost over $200 million to make and has HALF the viewership numbers of obi wan, which was considered a major disappointment itself. I can only imagine the blackmail that Kathleen has to keep her position.

 

[MaestroIT]

So they want to follow Microsoft which wants to buy Activision?

What's next?

 

[Threadcount]

So instead of Need for Speed we will have House of Mouse Racing and Jedi and the Goofy Nights...

 

[Uncle Al]

Sounds like the Disney Boss has a lot more on the ball than his advisors .....

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Given how they have destroyed lucasarts, are trying their darnedest on marvel and pixar.....you know what? Sure, go for it. Take ubisoft too while you're at it. Lets obliterate the publisher mafia!

With activision going to microsfaht the only oddball left is 2k. who would buy that sludge pile?
BuT tHeY mAdE tWo BiLlIoN oN ePiSoDe SeVeN!

They actual losses from solo (disney claims $65 million loss, real life closer to $400 million) likely obliterated more then half their movie income. Using hollywood math, I believe all their cinematic released have made a total of ~300 million. Far from the $4 billion they paid. Not counting tanking merch sales of course.

Ashoka: the snore files is rumored to have cost over $200 million to make and has HALF the viewership numbers of obi wan, which was considered a major disappointment itself. I can only imagine the blackmail that Kathleen has to keep her position.

Solo was decent and failed because it came after the garbage Abrams/Rian Johnson second movie.

Ashoka is supposed to be better than O bi wan. I wouldn't count viewership as an indication of quality as Andor is the best Star Wars media since the OG and it got low viewership too because it doesn't have name recognition and no fancy lightsaber fights.

 

[EdmondRC]

Disney needs to fix Disney. Or better yet, the BoD needs to fire Iger and bring in someone that can fix Disney. Everything they touch right now turns to crap. No good acquiring something in that state.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Given how they have destroyed lucasarts, are trying their darnedest on marvel and pixar.....you know what? Sure, go for it. Take ubisoft too while you're at it. Lets obliterate the publisher mafia!

With activision going to microsfaht the only oddball left is 2k. who would buy that sludge pile?
BuT tHeY mAdE tWo BiLlIoN oN ePiSoDe SeVeN!

They actual losses from solo (disney claims $65 million loss, real life closer to $400 million) likely obliterated more then half their movie income. Using hollywood math, I believe all their cinematic released have made a total of ~300 million. Far from the $4 billion they paid. Not counting tanking merch sales of course.

Ashoka: the snore files is rumored to have cost over $200 million to make and has HALF the viewership numbers of obi wan, which was considered a major disappointment itself. I can only imagine the blackmail that Kathleen has to keep her position.

Obi Wan was awful. Down right awful. Ahsoka is better, but not by much. The acting is subpar from most of the actors and the fight scenes are pretty bland. Who ever plays as Thrawn in Ahsoka, he's got zero presence on the screen and he's very hard to watch. Sadly, he's just part of the problem in a number of glaring issues with the lack luster ability to act from almost all the actors, but at least they're a step above what was given in Obi Wan. Eh, gross.

I suppose I only watched Ahsoka because I've always liked her character in the animated Clone Wars.

 

[RandomWAN]

Obi Wan was awful. Down right awful. Ahsoka is better, but not by much. The acting is subpar from most of the actors and the fight scenes are pretty bland. Who ever plays as Thrawn in Ahsoka, he's got zero presence on the screen and he's very hard to watch. Sadly, he's just part of the problem in a number of glaring issues with the lack luster ability to act from almost all the actors, but at least they're a step above what was given in Obi Wan. Eh, gross.

I suppose I only watched Ahsoka because I've always liked her character in the animated Clone Wars.

Everything I've seen of Ahsoka is only better than Obi-Wan because they're not trying to c*ck the main character like they did for that show. Ahsoka is all vapid female characters who can do no wrong, standing around with arms crossed as their go-to, and fight scenes with less energy than the original Obi-Wan/Vader fight in A New Hope.

 

[Robbie K]

No thanks, no one needs more Disney leftist ideologies shoved down their throats.

 

[ferrellsl]

Disney can't even get movies right so what makes anyone think they'd do any better with video games? They'd just turn existing game IP into woke trash in the same manner that they've destroyed some many great movie franchises.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Rogue One and Andor are great. Disney Star Wars can be great when they have competent writers and directors. Same goes for the Disney Marvel stuff since Disney owned Marvel since 2008 and nearly every modern Marvel movie is a Disney movie.