EA (Electronic Arts) has recently put a bid to purchase Respawn Entertainment. They would have to pay $151 million in cash for Respawn, up to $164 million in long-term equity, and a maximum of $140 million in performance milestone payments. The deal is worth $455 million. EA outbid the South Korean publisher: Nexon. Respawn is known for developing Titanfall. Titanfall was published by EA but they are an independent company. They spawned from Jason West and Vince Zampella, who are ex-game designers from the Call of Duty series.
Electronic Arts is known for changing the games in different ways after purchasing the development companies. Games such as Mass Effect 3 and Plants vs Zombies 2 are different styles than their predecessors and were reviewed worse. People attribute EA’s influence to cause the sequels to be worse games. Respawn has acquired great reputation for releasing free DLC and updates for Titanfall 2. Fans are worried that EA will ruin the good faith that has been down by Respawn. EA has also gained a reputation for acquiring developing game studios and shut them down. Fans are also worried that they will eventually shut down Respawn and prevent Titanfall 3 in the near future based on EA’s track record. Below are a list of EA’s acquirements and closed game companies.
- Visceral: Formerly EA Redwood so technically an EA branch. Developers of Dead Space series and found in 1998. Shut down in 2017.
- Origin Systems: Created of some of the Ultima series and Wing Commander. Acquired in 1992 and shut down in 2004.
- Bullfrog Productions which was found by Peter Molyneux. They are also known for Syndicate (1993), Magic Carpet (1994) and Theme Park (1994). They were acquired in 1995 and dissolved in 2001.
- Westwood: Created Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (1991), Dune II (1992). They brought Dungeons and Dragons licensed games to video games. They were bought by 1998 and shut down in 2003.
- Mystic Entertainment: They released another well-known MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in 2008. Sold to EA in 2006 and dissolved in 2014.
- Maxis: Instrumental in porting SimCity to the PC. Bought by EA in 1997. Created The Sims(2000). Shut down in 2004.
- Kesmai: Created the MMORPG forerunner Island of Kesmai (1985) and multiplayer online air-combat game Air Warrior (1987). Bought by EA in 1999 and shut down in 2001.
- Pandemic Studios: Created Star Wars: Battlefront(2004), Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005), Full Spectrum Warrior (2004) and Destroy All Humans! (2005) among others. Bought by EA in 2008. Shut down in 2009.
- DreamWorks Interactive: Created Medal of Honor (1999). Bought by EA in 2000 and re-branded as EA Los Angeles. Re-branded again as Danger Close Games in 2010. Folded into Dice Los Angeles in 2013.
Sources:
The Gaming News Corner 
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