News Corporation Targets Game Companies

According to News Corp. COO Peter Chernin, the company is actively seeking an acquisition in the video game market, but is being frustrated at the lack of suitable targets. Speaking at a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Chernin suggested that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and many other media companies were “kicking the tires of pretty much all video games companies.” In an odd comment Chernin also claimed that this included Activision, who he described as “seeking a buyer”. "We see [video games] as a big business and would like to get into it," Chernin added. "We are struggling with the gap between companies like Electronic Arts, which come with a high price tag, and the next tier of companies. These may be too focused on one or two product lines." Chernin did not indicate how much the company may be willing to spend on any acquisition, for although it could easily afford a company the size of Electronic Arts, there is clearly no desire to spend that amount of money. Activision, as the second largest third-party publisher in the world, would be an obvious next choice, but the company has certainly not indicated that it is seeking a buyer, either in the past or according to recent comments by chairman and CEO Robert Kotick.