EA sees ‘incredible opportunity’ in Codemasters acquisition

Billion dollar deal approved by Codemasters’ investors

Electronic Arts has spoken of its delight in the publisher’s acquisition of developer Codemasters. EA purchased the racing games specialist back in December 2020 for $1.2 billion – the sudden bid pulling the sale out from under the nose of Take-Two Interactive.

During a recent conference call, in which EA discussed the status of BioWare, the Star Wars license, and its upcoming releases, CFO Blake Jorgenson called the Codemasters acquisition “one of the best growth opportunities there is,” denoting why EA was so willing to fork out top dollar to add the British studio to its bulging portfolio of developers.

“The Dirt franchise, the Grid franchise, all of their franchises are incredible games, but none of them have actually taken advantage of a large publishing organization and a marketing muscle that we’re able to deliver,” said Jorgenson to investors. “We think that has growth to it, not to mention the talent that’s in that organization that could continue to help our Need for Speed business or our Real Racing business. It could be very powerful. So we know it is not a FIFA-sized business, but we know there is incredible opportunity to own essentially all of the driving business there is.”

Own essentially all of the driving business there is…

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson also spoke of the “incredible potential” the company sees in Codemasters’ established range of racing IPs. “We think that F1 plus live service plus our marketing muscle is a profound opportunity. And we think that Grid and Dirt also represent great new additions to our portfolio […] But the big win here is bringing together what we believe is going to be the greatest collection of racing talent in the industry.”

Later that day, Codemasters board of investors gave their official approval of EA’s purchase, with 63 of the company’s 76 shareholders voted in favor of selling up. European antitrust regulators have already passed approval on the deal, and as such EA is expected to complete the sale in spring.

EA sees “huge potential” in racing following Codemasters acquisition [GamesIndustry.biz]