EA Buys Codemasters; DiRT and Need for Speed Owned by One Publisher
Not Take-Two, but Electronic Arts bought Codemasters. At the last minute, EA made a bid of $1.2 billion to acquire the F1 license and the DiRT, GRID and Project CARS series.
- A few weeks after reports about Take-Two's plans to purchase Codemasters, an information about Electronic Arts entering the game broke out.
- EA will pay $1.2 billion and if nothing stands in the way, the transaction will be closed in early 2021.
Electronic Arts announced the purchase of Codemasters for approximately $1.2 billion, eliminating Take-Two from the race, which made a bid of $973 million in early November. Same as in that case, the transaction is expected to be finalized in early 2021.
Until recently, it seemed that the British studio would be acquired by the American company. However, yesterday there were rumors that Electronic Arts plans to enter the game, and this morning the news was confirmed by the official announcement from EA.
Andrew Wilson, the head of Electronic Arts, commented on the transaction:
"Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment.
With the full leverage of EA's technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base."
If the deal is successful, EA will not only gain a license for F1 games and Codemasters' own IPs (GRID, Project CARS or DiRT series), but also several hundred developers and technology solutions used by Codemasters.
What could stand in the way of EA's plans? An even higher counter-offer from Take-Two. However, we don't know if the American company is going to take part in the bid and put much more money on the table than it originally planned.
