Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive Shares Gain After Activision Deal

By Will Feuer

Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. rivals Electronic Arts Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. rose in midday trading Tuesday after Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy Activision in a deal valued at nearly $70 billion.

Electronic Arts stock last traded 4.7% higher at $136.60, while shares of Take-Two Interactive, which recently agreed to buy game maker Zynga Inc. in a roughly $11 billion deal, were 2.1% higher at $155.72.

The gains among video game producers came amid a broader market sell-off that saw the Nasdaq drop 2.4% around midday. The moves suggest that investors may be betting that video game producers are becoming attractive targets for bigger media players that are looking for ways to break into the nascent metaverse.

Electronic Arts, which is behind games such as Apex Legends and FIFA, fell 8% last year. Its market value now stands at about $38.54 billion.

Take-Two Interactive, which makes Grand Theft Auto, dropped about 15% last year, bringing its market value to $17.99 billion.

Write to Will Feuer at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2022 13:54 ET (18:54 GMT)

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