It’s game on for video game mergers.
Microsoft’s nearly $69 billion acquisition of the controversial game maker Activision Blizzard comes just one week after Grand Theft Auto developer Take-Two Interactive announced that it was buying FarmVille owner Zynga. Gamers (and investors) are now betting on which company might be the next to get scooped up. Wall Street seems to thinks that Electronic Arts, which makes the super popular Madden NFL franchise of football video games, could be the most likely target. Shares of Electronic Arts ( EA) rose 4% Tuesday. The company had no comment for CNN Business when asked about whether it could be considering a sale or looking to make a purchase of its own. Electronic Arts has made several acquisitions in the past year, including a $1.4 billion purchase of Playdemic, the developer of a popular mobile golf game that was owned by WarnerMedia, the AT&T ( T) -owned parent company of CNN. But unless EA makes a move it is increasingly looking like the proverbial odd man out in gaming. The Zynga ( ZNGA) deal will give Take-Two Interactive ( TTWO) a bigger presence in mobile gaming. Take-Two’s stock rose 2% on Tuesday. And Activision Blizzard ( ATVI) will now have, thanks to Microsoft ( MSFT), one of the deepest pockets in the world to help develop new games (and potentially absorb the costs of any further legal action tied to allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
