CNBC mocks report from Sweden on Amazon Eyeing Bid for Electronic Arts: “Swedish Meatballs” (video)
CNBC has revealed a report from Good Luck, Have Fun – a Swedish gaming and esports store and content partner of USA Today’s For The Win – that Amazon was preparing an offer to acquire Electronic Arts.
CNBC’s Joe Kerner and David Faber really had fun with it.
While speculation has been running high in the industry in recent weeks about a potential takeover for the video game company, especially after Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard for $69 billion earlier this summer, there was more smoke than actual fire in this case. Still, the rumor was powerful enough to send EA’s stock climbing 4% in premarket trading, per CNBC.
“The stock traded up on a Swedish media report, a Swedish meatball report, that said Amazon.com was set to announce an offer to buy the video game company,” Kerner said Friday on “Squawk Box.”
“I review Good Luck, Have Fun — the very well-known Swedish game report, every morning. I’m always looking for the latest takeover stories there. That’s my goal,” Faber said sarcastically.
Faber’s sources relayed that the original report was false and For the profit has added an editor’s note to its report noting that it “violated our editorial standards regarding the use of unnamed and unattended sources.”
“I’ve talked to some people who would actually know if there was something going on,” Faber said on “Squawk Box.” “They say there’s nothing going on.”
Watch the full CNBC segment at the top of this post.
EA, home to the popular “Madden” and “FIFA” franchises as well as “The SIMS” and “Need for Speed” series, has reportedly has been in talks with Disney, Apple, Amazon and Comcast’s NBCUniversal about a potential sale this summer. Amazon already owns the popular streaming service Twitch, which many gamers use to live stream their online activities, and this summer announced plans to acquire iRobot ($1.7 billion) and One Medical ($3.9 billion).