According to CNBC, Amazon is unlikely to make an offer for Electronic Arts.

Reuters, August 26 – CNBC reported on Friday that Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is not anticipated to bid for Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O), citing sources, contradicting an earlier story that the online retailer will make an offer for the videogame publisher today.

EA shares were up 15% in premarket trading following a report from USA Today about Amazon’s buyout bid for the owner of “FIFA” and “Apex Legends.” The stock then trimmed its gains and was last up nearly 6%.

Reuters’ queries for comment from Amazon were not immediately answered, and EA stated that it does not comment on rumours and M&A speculation.

With around $37 billion in cash on hand, Amazon is actively seeking acquisitions as it attempts to expand beyond e-commerce and the cloud under new CEO Andy Jassy.

Its offers range from $1.7 billion for primary healthcare provider One Medical to $3.5 billion for Roomba manufacturer iRobot Corp (IRBT.O) (ONEM.O).

The firm, which also controls the live-streaming service for video games Twitch, paid $8 billion for MGM Studios, the company behind the “Rocky” and “James Bond” films.

EA, which fared better than some of its competitors, had a market worth of $35.5 billion as of recent close, having lost only roughly 3% of that value this year.

In the meantime, the video game industry is also merging, and recent agreements have made it harder to distinguish between PC and mobile gaming companies.

Activision Blizzard Inc., a competitor of EA and the company behind “Call of Duty,” will be acquired by Microsoft (MSFT.O) for $68.7 billion.

The purchases are taking place against a backdrop of a faltering global gaming market as the demand boom experienced at the height of the pandemic slows down.

EA’s chief financial officer, Chris Suh, stated earlier this month that the company was not “totally immune” to a recession when predicting quarterly adjusted sales that would fall short of expectations. View More

Tiyashi Datta and Nivedita Balu reported from Bengaluru, and Sriraj Kalluvila edited the story.