The shares of video-game maker Electronic Arts (EA) saw a healthy jump on Friday amid rumors that the company will be bought by e-commerce giant Amazon. But as it turns out, this was just a rumor, and there is no deal or even negotiations taking place.
The original rumor indicated that Amazon was about to make a formal offer for EA and that the two parties seemed close to an agreement. The rumor caught fire instantly, spreading like wildfire and even causing some big-time media outlets to report on it. However, after some digging, it turned out there was no truth in these reports.
Both Amazon and EA declined to comment on the matter, but this isn’t the companies being secretive. They just have a policy not to give statements on this kind of subject. On the other hand, CNBC’s influential financial journalist David Faber reached out to his sources close to Amazon and received a response that nothing was taking place behind the scenes.
“There’s nothing going on,” said Faber.
The reason why many people believed the report is that it would actually make sense for Amazon to buy Electronic Arts. The retailer is already deep into the video gaming market, owning the gaming streaming service Twitch and having its own cloud gaming service. While EA might not be the path for Amazon to start producing video games, don’t be surprised if they venture there sooner than later.