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Acquisitions may help some studios finish projects but harm game creativity: EA official

Since 2022, many large companies such as Microsoft and Sony have made at least one industry acquisition or merger, among which Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January this year is the most. This is Microsoft’s most expensive acquisition ever. Therefore, some users believe that Ubisoft and EA can also consider mergers and acquisitions.

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In an interview with Barron’s, EA executive Vince Zampella acknowledged that mergers and acquisitions are a “megatrend” and that big acquisitions can help some studios complete projects they wouldn’t otherwise be able to execute, but at the same time there’s a downside. On the one hand, creativity is stifled.

“There’s a benefit but there could be a downside. I think we need to be careful, we’re not suppressing creativity,” he said. “But, what are we left with here? we have to be careful, we’re always innovating and looking for the next thing not just focusing on what’s in front of us.”

Game studios AcquisitionsAmazon Games boss Christopher Hartman also believes that every business, including gaming, will eventually become a monopoly. Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment after being fired from Infinity Ward. As such, he has personal experience with acquisitions, after all, Respawn was acquired by EA after the release of Titanfall.

The executive, who now heads EA’s Battlefield team, has some thoughts on what’s going on with Battlefield 2042. He said DICE was a little too far from the essence of Battlefield. The studio had ideas like increasing the number of players to 128 in a single game, “perhaps ambitious” and “the way they planned and executed it simply didn’t allow them to find their best shape”.

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