Netflix must have had some spare cash that has been burning a hole in their pocket for a while, because it's now come to light that the streaming service was at one point interested in purchasing Electronic Arts.
As we all know by now, Electronic Arts is in the process of being acquired by some really terrible groups and people. Meanwhile, Netflix is attempting to purchase Warner Bros. for $82 billion, though that might be jeopardy. Paramount Skydance is apparently attempting a hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that would total about $108.4 billion. This is all besides the point right now. Once an actual deal for Warner Bros. Discovery is set in stone, we'll share details on what that means for the games and game studios owned by Warner Bros.
Before attempting to purchase Warner Bros., Netflix was reportedly interested in acquiring Electronic Arts, Fox, and Disney. This is according to a report from Bloomberg.
According to that report, Netflix management just couldn't agree on a deal and were worried that their interest in those companies would hurt its standing with investors. It isn't stated anywhere in Bloomberg's report just when Netflix was thinking about acquiring Electronic Arts. The report also doesn't state just how much Netflix was considering spending on acquiring Electronic Arts. If Netflix was actually in talks with Electronic Arts about a potential buyout, it could be safe to assume that what they were offering was less than the $55 billion deal Electronic Arts agreed to with Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.
Currently, Saudi Arabia's PIF will gain majority control of Electronic Arts. Netflix, if investors don't opt for the hostile takeover by Paramount Skydance, would have the streaming giant in control of Warner Bros. game IPs such as Mortal Kombat, Batman, and Harry Potter. Netflix's previous forays into gaming have not gone well. In 2024 Netflix shuttered their internal game development studio, Team Blue. Team Blue was working on a AAA multiplayer shooter with a team that included Halo veteran Joe Staten. This October, Netflix shuttered Boss Fight, a studio that released Squid Game: Unleashed on mobile.
Just this past week, Netflix lost another game studio when they sold back Spry Fox to the original owners. Spry Fox was under the Netflix umbrella for about three years and released Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit during that time.
Because, of course.