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Should Apple acquire EA?


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    170
  • Poll closed .
The question is, what it would mean for multi platform titles… would Apple allow them to push out one ttile after the other for Windows, consoles and mobile or would they force them to port to Apple or even be Apple exclusive?

Apple exclusive would mean the end of EA as there would be nowhere near enough sales.

Forcing ports would mean a financial loss for many titles. Are they willing to eat into the console/PC profits to get there? From a business type a view, it would be a bad decision. Everyone wants to make money, not waste it.

Giving EA the option to do what they want would be an odd choice as Apple (well, still EA but Apple behind it) would then release multi platform titles. I can’t see that happening.

Games aside, maybe Apple is only interested to build a store system like Steam and sell EA games there with the usual cut they take. That would not affect games at all, but be a massive source of income for them if EA games are sold exclusively that way.


In the end, I think Amazon would be a much better match to acquire EA and continue business as usual. Amazon is only interested in making as much money as possible and not push their own agenda. Best for the people playing these games.

However, I think if it happens it might go to Disney. Disney is already invested in gaming and while this might mean some changes for EA it will probably overlap with interests of gamers.
 
I don’t know if Apple should buy EA or not. It could possibly help the MacOS gaming landscape, but it’s really hard at this point to tell by how much.

I have a 2016 MBP that I use everyday, just not for gaming. It was a new $2000 computer that only has integrated graphics. :confused: This was after an Apple price increase. I bitched about then and gave up on Apple for any serious gaming. I‘m likely up for a Mac upgrade soon and might consider going to a MacBook Air. My home built PC handles all of my serious gaming needs.
 
Buy them, and have them create cross-platform titles with simultaneous launch on the Mac and other platforms. EA is still a large publisher with many studio’s.
 
For sure they should. And they should make the Apple logo title card appear before the EA title card when you start a game.

It's pretty clear that any corporation that doesn't buy up gaming publishers/studios/ip's is going to be left behind and have very little to offer 5 and 10 years from now. Amazon has Twitch and the Bond universe, Microsoft has the world of Warcraft and Call of Duty and all the original PS1 mascots, and what does Apple have? Imagine if all the future Sims games get optimised for iOS and Mac, with he PC port being an unoptimised port. Or all the movies and TV shows apple could make out of EA's big back catalogue.

Also Apple could make an "App Store" for Windows that sells copies of all the EA games...
 
Why are we cheering this on? How do we as consumers benefit when a handful of large companies own all forms of entertainment? It would be better for us if these companies split up into smaller, more agile independent studios. All that will come out of these acquisitions will be more half baked crap games.
 
Why are we cheering this on? How do we as consumers benefit when a handful of large companies own all forms of entertainment? It would be better for us if these companies split up into smaller, more agile independent studios. All that will come out of these acquisitions will be more half baked crap games.

I agree with you on the whole.

I will say though, licensed sports games in particular need a really large entity behind them to absorb major costs and riskier projects or they simply never happen.

Yes, lots of indie sports games are interesting and can be very good, but they almost always have no or limited licensed content and a lot of people really want that licensed content to "be the pros" or "play on the tour/in the league", etc.
 
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Imagine if all the future Sims games get optimised for iOS and Mac, with he PC port being an unoptimised port.
Aaand we’re back to wishful thinking. That didn’t take long.
Huh?

Is this a thing?
Yes, EA talked to many companies about it, including Apple.
How do we as consumers benefit when a handful of large companies own all forms of entertainment?
Easier to compensate loss when a $100M+ projects hits the bottom of the ocean.
Apple would be a logical choice, but how would EA integrate to Apple?
What exactly makes Apple the logical choice vs all the other companies EA talked to?
 
What exactly makes Apple the logical choice vs all the other companies EA talked to?

IDK - Apple has a ton of money, but they mostly suck at gaming.

A major catalog boost via new games (and maybe some existing stuff) brought to macOS/iOS and taking advantage of ASi could be a fit.

I think you can make good arguments for all the names I saw linked
 
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One thing is for sure, if Apple did buy EA, all the UE engine based games will have to be redeveloped, lol.
 
IDK - Apple has a ton of money, but they mostly suck at gaming.

A major catalog boost via new games (and maybe some existing stuff) brought to macOS/iOS and taking advantage of ASi could be a fit.
Yes, for Apple. But how does that benefit EA? In the long run, EA need’s to make money and be profitable and that only works if they keep pushing out Windows/console games or dramatically reduce development costs and go Mac only, which means goodbye many IPs.
I think you can make good arguments for all the names I saw linked
Yes indeed. I don’t think there’s a logical choice, just many choices.

Well, if Apple were to want to increase the potential for it's Arcade service and add several titles to it and ensure Mac compatibility to said titles, this is one way to go.
That’s good for Apple, but what about EA? Might come back at them and bite them in the rear end.
 
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Yes, for Apple. But how does that benefit EA? In the long run, EA need’s to make money and be profitable and that only works if they keep pushing out Windows/console games or dramatically reduce development costs and go Mac only, which means goodbye many IPs.

I would hope Apple would recognize that its' better to keep them doing releases as they have been, but simply add macOS/iOS versions.

Apple is all about money these days, so I'd hope they realize way more money is out there if they keep EA casting a really wide net.

I would absolutely not want Apple to buy EA and then lock down releases to Apple platforms only.
That would royally suck
 
Can you share the source of this information that Apple is interested? Does EA want to be acquired by Apple? Would all of their games run on iOS? Would EA make exclusives for Apple? Does EA only want to do business on one platform? How would this effect their current deal with Microsofts Game Pass? M1 silicon is great if you buy the high end versions people always forget that. Mac gaming currently is less the 1%. People get so emotionally attached to Apple that they don't look at things objectively. Other than to screw Microsoft I don't see how this makes business sense for either company. This would be loss for gamers. Locking things down on one platform always is. Microsoft is guilty of this with Bethesda currently.
 
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I doubt Apple will buy them. If they did they might have to cater to the other platforms which is something they rather not do.
Even if it would bring some much needed support to Mac AAA gaming, which also I doubt they are really all that interested in if you look at Apple Arcade. It's fine and all but not really typical PC/console gaming material.

I guess Sony or MS will snatch them up or whomever is next in the list of big gaming studios.
 
If they did they might have to cater to the other platforms which is something they rather not do.

I would have thought that in the past, but Apple has changed and the services/recurring revenue push is, by its nature, a bit of a multi platform push.

Them putting Airplay and TV+ all over (and Music on Android) are a few examples.

Game Subscription and streaming services are a big chunk of the future in that very lucrative space.

Something like this wouldn't surprise me at all (not anymore)
 
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