I don’t think that any informed gamer would say that having big names likeBioWare and Pandemic Studios under one’s beltwould be a bad thing, and it looks like the industry analysts tend to agree. They think that the acquisition of these two studios is worth the $860 million that Electronic Arts shelled out for them.
Lazard’s Colin Sebastian is okay with the big price that EA paid, saying that “top talent comes at a top price.” Sebastian also reminds investors that this deal gives EA 800 more developers.
“Over the long run, we think that EA’s acquisition of Pandemic and Bioware will pay dividends,” said Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter, “and we think that the teams and properties acquired will solidify EA’s dominant market position.”
Citi’s Brent Thill predicts that BioWare is quietly working on a Star Wars MMO. He says that this would be a “strong positive” for the EA, one that “bolsters [its] MMO exposure.”
Pachter sums things up well: “Pandemic and Bioware staffs are a good cultural fit for EA, with a solid work ethic (19 games released since 2000), high quality games (an average game ranking of around 80), and sound financial results (several games with over 1 million in unit sales).”
[ViaGamasutra]
