Electronic Arts has taken out its wallet to surprise Take-Two, the company buys Codemasters. They are the developer of games such as ‘DiRT’ and ‘F1’. EA paid $1.2B for that purchase, it is an offer that greatly exceeds the $971 million that Take-Two Interactive had previously offered.
- Microsoft warns that Xbox Series X might be in short supply until April
- Microsoft wants Bethesda games to arrive on Xbox first
- FIFA 21: All packs, rewards, odds and prices
Electronic Arts expands its catalog of driving franchises in a big way. Codemasters is behind franchises such as ‘Formula 1’, ‘DiRT’, ‘DiRT Rally’, ‘GRID’ and ‘Project Cars’, while Electronic Arts has ‘Need of Speed’, ‘Real Racing’ for smartphones and the “EA SPORTS” brands in its catalog. Obviously, in addition to seeking greater benefit, with this acquisition EA seeks to make its multi-platform subscription service, EA Play, a more attractive service.
Take-Two Interactive had reached an agreement to purchase Codemasters for $971 million last month, but according to the company, “the Codemasters Board has considered several aspects of EA’s offer and believes that it represents a superior offering to Codemasters shareholders compared to Take-Two’s offer.”
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021. Codemasters shareholders will receive $7.98 per share, which means that the valuation of the company is around $1.2 billion. It is, therefore, the largest purchase made by Electronic Arts in its history.
According to Electronic Arts, the idea is “to help accelerate Codemasters’ performance by leveraging EA’s deep expertise in live service operations, game analytics, and technology.” This will give Codemaster access to Electronic Arts’ tools and, of course, its marketing and publishing capabilities. In EA’s words:
“The combination of Codemasters and Electronic Arts will enable the development and delivery of a market-leading portfolio of creative and exciting racing games and content to more platforms and more players around the world.”
Codemasters’ executive, Frank Sagnier (CEO), Rashid Varachia (CFO), and the rest of the team intend to remain with the company once the acquisition is complete. The statement specifies that they “will continue to lead the Codemasters business within EA’s organization”
But beyond finding synergies between the two companies, the ultimate goal of the acquisition is to make EA Play more attractive, Electronic Arts’ multi-platform subscription service. It is a similar strategy to the one followed by Microsoft with the purchase of Bethesda Softworks.
