In An Alternate Reality Hellscape, Activision Merged With EA

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been the talk of the town this week in the gaming industry, but a recent report from GamesBeat paints a potentially very different picture of what could have been, a merger with EA.

According to the report, prior to approaching Microsoft, Activision had considered a merger with EA. Though we all know now that this isn’t what transpired, it was confirmed that Activision had considered numerous possibilities for which company to approach. In the end it was Microsoft. Because it had the money and resources to help Activision continue forward with future goals.

EA is by no means a small publisher. Nor is Activision Blizzard. Both are behemoths. But neither are as big as Microsoft. So, in the end it isn’t surprising that Activision opted not to approach EA. And gamers are surely happier for that.

What would an Activision merger with EA look like?

It’s hard to say since this isn’t the road Activision is taking. But if you’ve played any of Activision’s Call Of Duty titles or games like Candy Crush, or numerous EA titles over the last few years, you’re likely aware of some of the public opinion on both publishers.

The jokes about games being overrun with microtransactions don’t exist for no reason. And with both Activision and EA being seen as two of the worst companies in regards to microtransactions, you can imagine the kind of warm greeting fans might have if the two companies came together.

All of that aside, there’s no denying that both companies have been wildly successful in their game releases. While not every title ends up a hit (think Anthem), the biggest ones do. Call Of Duty, Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront II, FIFA, World Of Warcraft. All are massive titles. Both ongoing live service titles and hit franchises that get annual releases.

So while fans may not have wanted an Activision and EA merger, it could have been a good business decision. That being said, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was clear that EA wouldn’t have provided them what they needed going forward. Imagine, though, a world where EA owns Activision Blizzard and all of its franchises. It’s almost chilling.